


Tears of Revelry

by Mendeia



Series: Tales from Gundam Island [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Gundam Wing
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bending (Avatar), Canon-Typical Violence, Epic Friendship, Gen, Gundam Boys Are Seriously Badass, Other, Secret Societies Break All The Things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-04
Updated: 2014-06-29
Packaged: 2018-01-07 09:53:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 133,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1118496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mendeia/pseuds/Mendeia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A world in chaos on the brink of war. A secret alliance with the intent to change the world through five very unique young men. A young woman driven to the heights of power with a goal for peace and hope for all. War is so much more complicated when all sides can bend the elements. In the year After Comet 195, the world will rely on five very unlikely saviors.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Before the Day is Done

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please see the end of the chapter for my copious notes. Normally I'll put my commentary up here, but there was so much to say, I figured I should leave it for the end this time. Except for this: SPOILERS for the end of Avatar: The Last Airbender ahead!
> 
> Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

In the year After Comet 195, the world faced chaos and war on an unprecedented scale. Even the war 195 years prior, when Avatar Aang had defeated Fire Lord Ozai in the battle that became the most pivotal moment in history, paled in comparison. Avatar Aang had fought against a dangerous man's agenda and a Fire Nation bent on domination and destruction. But in the end, his defeat of that one man, and the simultaneous defeats around the world of that one agenda, had wrought peace.

In a world with no Avatar, there was no voice to unite the fracturing nations.

The conflict had begun generations earlier, almost at the same time as the birth of Republic City. For centuries, the world had existed in a balance of four nations – the Air Nomad peoples, the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, and the Fire Nation. With the merging of borders after what had become known as "The Fire Lord's War," those four boundaries became more and more meaningless. Not only in cities, but even families might have representatives from multiple origins. Whole lineages merged and split and merged again until the Old Four were but a portion of the world. Republic City, founded by Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko as a haven in occupied territories for those peoples no longer truly of either the Fire Nation or the Earth Kingdom, had become a diverse and multicultural nation in its own right, as powerful as the Northern Water Tribe. Dozens of other cities, islands, valleys, and the like boasted of different benders living side-by-side for the betterment of all.

The map of the world could no longer be drawn in the colors of the Old Four; now, it was a true rainbow of peoples and cultures that had grown up as the world came together.

It should have led to a time of peace, and for the first century or so after Avatar Aang, with the exception of a few moments of darkness, peace had been realized. The world no longer stood divided by blood and bending. When Sozin's Comet returned 100 years from the defeat of Fire Lord Ozai, it was to a worldwide celebration in which every firebender made use of their powers for purposes other than war. And yet old resentments lingered, festered, and found new fertile ground in the struggles of this new reality.

By After Comet 150, the majority of the world's population lived not under the Old Four, but under the many new factions that had arisen and had begun their clamoring for recognition and independence. The Old Four largely resisted such efforts (excluding the Air Nomad peoples, who had regrown in strength and had no intention of maintaining a nation – their people were free to do as they wished as ever) and calm discussions gave way to furious confrontations. The Avatar of the time, Avatar Yuy, urged all peoples to work together towards a peaceful solution.

For twenty years, Avatar Yuy managed to keep the political situation of the world more or less under control. He advocated for the right of self-determination for those conclaves that wished it, pressed for equal regard for all people, benders or not, and maintained a message of prudence and patience with the ever-spreading influence of the independents. He argued that change was inevitable after The Fire Lord's War, but that such change should be approached respectfully and cautiously on all sides. He kept a council of friends and advisors with him, including members of the Order of the White Lotus, and began laying the groundwork for a world in which the Old Four made way for the new nations without bloodshed; he was a peaceful earthbender at heart and led with steadiness.

But a force rose up from an unknown source, and even Avatar Yuy could not find its roots. He only knew that men and women, benders and non-benders alike, had taken up arms and threatened a war, even as their goals remained shrouded in mystery. They became known as the Order of the Black Lotus for their divisive acts and their ruthless mentality. Yuy was hard-pressed to keep them in check and conflicts erupted all over the world as suspicion and violence grew and fostered amidst the political mistrust.

At last, Avatar Yuy called on the Black Lotus forces to face him fairly, that he would attempt to arbitrate their concerns and address their grievances. But for all his canny knowledge of the politics of the Old Four and the emerging nations, Yuy could not have anticipated the lengths to which his opponents were prepared to go.

Before dawn the day of the meeting and while still traveling to the meeting-place, Avatar Yuy was ambushed by an overwhelming force. He fought back valiantly, but he was desperately outmatched. Many of his friends and advisors fell in the battle, and their spilled blood angered the even-tempered earthbender as little in all his long life. Avatar Yuy invoked the Avatar State and rose to put an end to the conflict once and forever.

But history is a repeating dance, and some things return at the worst possible time. In perfect mimicry of a once-princess's attack on Avatar Aang, a bolt of lightning struck Avatar Yuy as he rose into his cosmic self. This time, where before Aang had been rescued and saved by the waterbender Master Katara, the waterbenders who might have saved Yuy were already dead or scattered. Avatar Yuy was killed in the ascended Avatar State, and like a mountain splintering in two, the Avatar Soul was broken.

The Order of the Black Lotus rejoiced in a frenzy of triumph, but with their work now done, they vanished from the public eye. The world raged and mourned and quaked in terror for a future with no Avatar, and the Old Four rose up to comfort and protect their people, strengthening their holds and quelling the desire for self-determination in many lands. The independents were silenced as fears about security and safety overrode freedom, and the rainbowed colors of the world were pushed back into the more-regulated red, blue, and green that had always dominated.

But true peace was no longer possible. Even without the Avatar, there were those who hated the Old Four more than they were now afraid, and they turned to even greater desperate lengths to liberate themselves or to strike back. The world was heading for a war unlike any ever seen before, a war of nation against nation, family against family, some fighting for freedom, others for revenge, and like a panicking flock of birds they scattered and cared not what they struck in their fear and fury. Even the ancient Order of the White Lotus seemed powerless against the coming strife.

And so, a few members of the Order gathered together to hatch a plan that, they hoped, might be the saving of the world. The Avatar was long dead and the line of rebirth broken, but perhaps there was another way to unite the world once more and defeat the forces of divisiveness. They acted without the rest of the Order, for their plans were intricate and could not bear even the well-meaning influence of their compatriots. Five old men spread across the world and quietly prepared.

Until, in After Comet 195, the signal from their leader reached the others.

"Begin Operation Meteor."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So, a few things to make clear:
> 
> 1.) This will be a very loose retelling of Gundam Wing in the world of A:TLA, with lots of changes as the story progresses. I have no intention of following the plot directly, so don't be surprised when we veer off the rails. The story is totally done, with one chapter up a weekend, so no worries – I know where we're going when we divert.
> 
> 2.) I have never watched Korra and am taking this as an AU of A:TLA. I've only lifted one major plot point from Korra and I did it accidentally – when I was scouring the online wikis and resources, I stumbled upon the article for a new place called "Republic City" that is a Korra addition, and I liked it. So that shows up here, but it isn't the Republic City directly from Korra. It's geographic location is the same, and a little of its history or culture, but everything else comes as a consequence of how I am rewriting this AU.
> 
> 3.) A major facet of this AU is that the events of Korra never ever happened. If you've never seen Korra, you're in good shape. If you have, sorry – none of that occurred. I started this story before the first season of Korra had even been aired, so my innovations were here first! So there, ha.
> 
> 4.) I was helped immensely in the writing of this tale by a soundtrack of sorts. The chapter titles all come from lines across 4 different songs that were my major inspiration. As we go, I'll let you know what those songs are and, in one case, where you can find an absolutely kick-ass AMV for A:TLA that shows you why this song stuck with me the way it did. If anybody can figure out how to make an AMV for Gundam where the boys are benders, I will love you forever.
> 
> 5.) This story will be the main tale, but because there is just too much here, I'll be producing some number of oneshots (probably 8-10) to accompany it after the whole thing has been posted. If someone has a burning idea for one, let me know. I really, really enjoyed writing in this universe and I'm not quite ready to let it go yet. I hope as we get into it, you'll see why!
> 
> Lastly, the cover art was done by me, with a tiny bit of help from a friend. If anybody wants to produce art to add, though, just let me know. I'll post any pictures on the AO3 version of the story.
> 
> I think that's it! Hopefully all my notes from here on out will be short enough to go at the beginning of the chapters instead of the end. Feedback is welcome, but for now, sit back and enjoy the adventure to come!


	2. Smoke in the Sky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, one short note: There are just too many characters in Gundam Wing who are blond for me to get all the way through an A:TLA version without explaining it somehow – I went for the "it's a genetic aberration" line. After all, we're dealing in a world where the peoples have mixed together a lot more, so certain recessive traits could be more pronounced. Maybe. Just go with it, thanks!
> 
> Also, subsequent chapters will get longer. No worries.
> 
> Enjoy!

It was a fairly quiet day in Ba Sing Se, the sun bright and warm and the streets quiet in the innermost ring. Here, a non-bender's stone-throw from the Earth Kingdom palace, the ripples that tore and pulled at the rest of the world were as far away and easy to ignore as the clouds high in the sky. It was the deep and rich part of the summer when the earth practically sang in contentment and the gardens were lush and perfect.

Relena strolled along the sun-warmed stones of the paths between her home and the nearby cluster of reflecting pools. From here, if she stood on a boulder and stretched to her full height, she could see over the walls of the inner tier and beyond the outer two rings to the wild land beyond the city. She had never really left Ba Sing Se, though she knew her father had dealings in other places. It had never really occurred to her until recently how much more was out there. Idly, Relena wished for the sort of adventure she had read about in the stories of Avatar Aang and his friends.

Later, she would reflect on the irony of that thought's timing.

That very moment there was a loud cracking noise from off to her right. Relena thought it must be a few of the local earthbenders in a match and ran to take a look – as a non-bender, she was fascinated with all four forms of bending and couldn't keep from watching it every chance she got.

But she had only just rounded a copse of stout trees when she stopped in surprise.

Through the clearing, the ground was completely torn up as though something large had crashed into it from above. The trench led back to the very wall of the inner ring, which she could see from her vantage point was crumbled and broken. Not as if it had been struck, though – Relena knew earthbending when she saw it.

A bit of movement caught her attention and she looked down in surprise. Lying in the furrow in the earth, just starting to come around, was a boy. His hair was dark brown, and as she watched, he got to his feet, something shiny falling to one side as he regained his balance.

"Are you all right?" Relena called hesitantly.

The boy snapped to attention as if struck, his intensely dark blue eyes widening at the sight of her. His hand flew to his face as if to conceal it, but she had already seen him. His eyes darted around and he grabbed for the shiny thing that had slipped away.

It was a mask.

Quicker than her eyes could track, the boy pulled the mask back over his face. It was a fearsome visage with slanting eyes that looked as if they glowed, half-hooded in a representation of an ancient Earth Kingdom helmet. He leaped up the embankment and sprang to her side and Relena stepped back in sudden fear.

"If you tell anyone what you saw," he rumbled in a deep, cold voice, "I will kill you."

The breath chilled in Relena's chest and her throat constricted. But the boy started to run, and between his natural speed and his ability to spring off the earth with bending, he vanished in moments. Relena had not even overcome her shock when a squad of the city guards arrived, led by someone in another mask, but this one familiar; he was Zechs, one of the Earth Kingdom's top generals, and she happened to know he lived nearby. The soldiers paid her no attention and instead began immediately repairing the damage to the wall.

Relena slipped back into the trees and walked slowly down the path in vaguely the same direction as the boy. Taking a deep breath and wondering at what had just happened, she looked at her hands. She wondered what his would have felt like, had she gripped them in greeting.

"My name is Relena. What's yours?"

-==OOO==-

The harbor was almost a deep purple reflecting the darkening sky by the time the last ship had docked and its cargo unloaded. What had once been a base for the Fire Nation navy in the southern waters had been reclaimed over many generations as a Water Tribe outpost, a fair-sized city north of the tribe's traditional icy waters. The traditionalists still lived at the poles, but there was much prosperity to be found for waterbenders willing to offer their abilities in the service of travel and commerce.

A lithe form detached from a shadow and crept away from the crates and barrels towards the city. Ice Haven still bustled even with the coming of night. One more person sliding into the rhythms of the passersby was negligible, nearly invisible.

No one looked closely enough to see the vivid eyes, the long plaited hair that was tied with a mesh of woven grass A shade, a ghost, nothing more substantial and no more remembered or noticed as the crowds thinned.

"Nice knowing you," the unremarked individual snickered quietly, sliding between houses until there was a clear path via the rooftops to the central square and the building beyond that was the seat of power in Ice Haven officially, and the Mid-Water Tribe unofficially.

A nearby fountain splashed merrily, and the shadow took advantage, making a running leap to land on top of the gushing water that held him up as solidly as if he had leaped onto a stone. Another jump and he was ensconced behind the chimney of a large house colored to look like a whale curing around its sides.

He crouched and waited.

-==OOO==-

Half a world away, a young man with hair hooding his face followed the circus caravan he had joined through the main gates of Republic City. Looming before and above him, the heart of the first and only independent nation seemed to glow golden in the setting sun.

"Come on, lad!" the circus's ringmaster clapped him on the back. "Time for sightseeing later. Now that we've got our permit, we need to set up the tents so we'll be ready for tonight."

"Yes sir," he answered softly, turning away.

But the air had a scent here that drew his attention back to the city again and again, knowing what he would find there, knowing what he would have to do. He could smell the ash and char of firebenders on the very wind, hear the echoes of crackling flame in the distance. He could feel the moisture of waterbenders and their fountains. The city had once been fairly small, but now Republic City was nearly the size of Capital Island of the Fire Nation. It was not organized the same way as Ba Sing Se, and the center gleamed with tall buildings set with bright stones and crystals that made it shine in the fading light. It should have been reassuring.

It wasn't.

He let out a long breath and with it the cares of the world. First, his duty to the circus. Later there would be time for his duty to himself and his cause.

-==OOO==-

"State your business," the soldier said monotonously, barely even listening to himself in his boredom. The line stretching out from the gates was particularly long, dozens of people waiting to get in, and it was growing near to dinner time. Not how he wanted to spend his day.

"Delivery of supplies," came the response.

The soldier looked over his list, noting several different deliveries were due in the next few days, depending on how long travel took. He glanced at the two wagons waiting in line and noted the symbol on the caravans as one of the larger trading depots to the east. He gestured to the two other men guarding the gate to inspect the cargo.

While waiting for them to check for anything forbidden, he looked over the person who appeared to be in charge of the delivery. From the height, he suspected a young man, probably learning his father's trade, though he seemed a bit young to manage two wagons through the mountains by himself. He wore a cape of a nondescript brown with a hood, but bright blue eyes were evident when he looked up. But there was something…

"Take off your hood," the guard ordered curtly.

The boy let out a breath and raised his hands to push back the hood, looking up almost defiantly.

"By the stones," the guard found himself reaching out. "I'd heard of it, of course, but I'd never imagined…"

"It's becoming quite common," the boy said defensively, but he didn't flinch from the touch. "It's not anything special. Even the Fire Lord's granddaughter has it."

"Sure but…I never thought I'd see it out here." He ran his fingers through the boy's hair, marveling. It was the color of bright gold in the sun. "Thought it was only in families with some Nomad in their blood." He looked more carefully at the boy. "But you're not…"

"No, I'm not," he said. Then he smiled and the expression made him look gentle and sweet. "Do you mind if I go in now? It's been a long trip and I'd like to rest a bit."

The guard looked over at his two men, both of whom had stopped their search in surprise at the youth's strange appearance. Belatedly, they shook their heads, signaling nothing was amiss.

"Of course. Welcome to Folly's Fortress."

-==OOO==-

On a warm mountainside, a black-haired young man gazed out across the peaks that rose up from the sea, many still steaming and smoking from their unquenchable fires that not even earth and ocean could smother. From his vantage point, he could see so much of the ancestral Fire Nation, from the glimmer of the Gates of Azulon in the distance to the black curls of soot that rose still from Crescent Island in the east. From the moment of the death of Avatar Yuy, the island of the rebuilt Fire Temple had emitted a dark shroud of a cloud, as though the island itself were weeping for the Avatar.

"Foolishness," he said roughly, turning away.

The dead were dead, and curse the Avatar for allowing himself to be numbered among them. Because of that earthbender's failure and shame, the world faced danger now and honor was in short supply. The world itself was becoming the pawn of the strong who cared nothing for the weak, or for what was just.

"Bitterness, little one?" a gentle voice whispered in his mind, his memory. "You're just angry because of what you perceive as your own failure when no one else in the world would blame you."

The young man took a deep breath before spinning to punch the very rock behind him, emitting a blast of flame as he did so as much to vent his feelings as to keep his fist from meeting stone and causing injury. His fire scorched the mountain but left him unburned, which still seemed like mockery somehow. Fire was supposed to _hurt_.

Shaking himself, he collected his emotions at once and turned towards the path again. He had some walking yet to do before reaching the boat that would carry him to Capital Island, and no more time to spend wasting on the weakness that had brought him here.

-==OOO==-

At moonrise that night, five cities awoke in terror.


	3. To Burn Your Kingdom Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I decided that was a deeply unfair place to leave the story for the first upload. Here's one more to really get things moving.
> 
> (Also, I lifted a name for this chapter from a character in Gundam Seed Destiny. It seemed to fit.)
> 
> Enjoy!

In Ba Sing Se, Relena was startled out of her bed by the shaking she had always been taught was impossible – the sheer number of earthbenders in the city meant it could never be bent by any but the full united forces of the Earth King's army. But she drew a wrap around her and looked out her window to see everything, from the front garden to the palace outlined brightly against the dark sky, trembling.

Heedless of her mother's cry after her, Relena dashed through the house and raced out the door.

Others were running towards the palace too, many of them guards. She ducked from the press of them to one side, dodging between trees on the avenue that led to the broad square before the palace. She hid herself against the stone monuments that led to the massive stairway where she could had a clear view of the grand entrance to the palace.

At the top of the stairs, an earthbending battle, the likes of which Relena had never seen, was crumbling the very walls of the inner sanctum of Ba Sing Se. A small form bent the earth and the rocks of the palace's own foundations, crashing them chaotically in every direction. As more guards appeared and lit torches, a glint of metal shone and Relena gasped in recognition.

It was the boy she had seen that afternoon, wearing his mask.

A moment later, with dozens of earthbenders now crowding up the increasingly-decimated stairs to the fight, the boy spun a sharp kick and drew up a chunk of earth. With a technique Relena had never seen before, he continued the kick to drive the rock towards the rush of guards, then executed a flip to land on top of it. He seemed to sink into the stone itself as the boulder cleared the way down the stairs. His enemies flattened, literally, the boy burst from what remained of his earth shield and started to run.

And Relena found herself following. She glanced back only once to see the shining hair and mask of the Lightning Count, General Zechs, looking after the boy from atop the wall but making no attempt to pursue him.

 

-==OOO==-

In Ice Haven, those houses closest to the administrative building had barred doors and windows, the people within hiding and shivering. Waterbenders or simply Water Tribe, they knew what they had seen and each and every one had chosen to hide rather than fall prey to it.

For across the square marched the city's own sentinels, stiff and silent to a man.

In front of the central building, a few guards remained, poised to attack their companions and yet hesitating.

"Big mistake," whispered a voice. From amidst the ranks of the marchers, a lone figure emerged. He wore all black, a long braid swinging behind him, face obscured by a black mask that was shaped like a nightmarish sea serpent. His hands snapped out and the guards felt their water drop away from them, their bodies locking rigidly in place.

"It's him…" one half-cried out in terror. "The death spirit Shinigami!"

"Close enough," the figure remarked. With speed, he dashed forward and pressed a hand to the chest of the nearest guard frozen before him. The guard never even gasped before falling limply to the ground. He practically danced to the others, doing the same, until only the silent army at his back remained.

"Go on then," he waved, quirking his fingers into harsh shapes.

The men responded, silently marching forward in a wave to break down the doors of the building. There were more guards here, who quickly struck to freeze their attackers in blocks of ice. It was a brutal fight, the men marching inexorably forward while those stationed within tried desperately to freeze and repel them.

Until all at once, the attackers dropped bonelessly to their knees, begging for mercy and surrender. As the waterbenders came forward curiously, none noticed the shadow that slipped through the chaos and into the building.

 

-==OOO==-

Republic City was a bastion of interconnectedness and alliances. Or, rather, it had started that way in the After Comet years. But not long after the untimely death of Avatar Yuy, Republic City had fallen from its idealistic path and become a hotbed of squabbling factions and political maneuvering. The city-state might have gained independent recognition from the Old Four decades prior, but by After Comet 195 it had become a piece of the greater conflict, a supposedly neutral force that, in reality, could be swayed by the highest bidder. The city had once been governed by the Republic City Council, which had advised the Chairman, the individual empowered to negotiate directly with the leaders of the Old Four. But the Black Lotus had been active here, too, and in only a few years whittled away the power of the Council, until only the Chairman, a man of their own making, ruled the city-state.

Chairman Dulindal sipped his sake delicately, looking over his city with pleasure. His palatial residence, built only in the last year, afforded him an unparalleled view of Republic City and its outlying lands. It wasn't quite as grand or as well fortified as one of the Old Four capitals, not yet, but with the correct efforts, he had every intention of raising his city-state to true equality with the more predominant nations. And, to do that, he needed to ensure that he drew strength from whatever forces might lend it.

Hearing the door open behind him, the Chairman turned. It was a guard, one of the many he kept bound to himself with loyalty, like beliefs, and ample rewards. He might not know the man's face, but he could hardly be expected to recall the dozens of soldiers and benders who had sworn him allegiance. Having his own private enforcers not only ensured him the power to control the populace, but also to keep the Council in line when they were inclined to stand against him.

"What is it?" he asked impatiently. "I thought I made it clear I was not to be disturbed. Who gave you orders to come up here."

"No one did," came the reply.

The long-haired soldier drew something from beneath the tunic that fluttered at his chest. It was a mask, blank as a smooth stone or an unused parchment. As he brought it to his face, the tunic he wore began to flutter even more.

"An airbender!" the Chairman realized with horror. He had no airbenders on his force – they were too unwilling to obey orders.

He opened his mouth to cry out, only to have the very air stolen from his lungs.

 

-==OOO==-

"And so, thanks to Fong's legendary stupidity in attempting to battle against Avatar Aang in the fullness of his Avatar powers, this outpost has become known as Folly's Fortress in his dishonor."

The guard sat back down to approving nods. New visitors always wondered about the oddly-named Earth Kingdom holding, and the tale of General Fong's arrogant attack against the Avatar and his allies in the year of the Comet always made for good evening entertainment.

But the moment was broken when a young man came racing into the mess hall, pale and sweating, eyes wide with terror.

"Fire!" he cried. "Fire in the north tower!"

"Evacuate the barracks," ordered the most senior captain in the room as his men scrambled to their feet. "Are there any waterbenders present?" As a few visitors raised their hands, he nodded sharply. "Come with me. The rest of you lot," he raised his voice over the scraping of benches and the rattle of armor, "man the battlements in case this is more than an accident."

The scene outside was pure chaos. Merchants and others who had sheltered within the walls overnight were racing to their wagons and rushing for the open gates, where they were permitted to leave mainly to keep them out of the way. The entire north tower was lit by flame, heat pouring off it like sweat as fire burst from every arrow-slit, window, and door. As the men fell into formation and began waterbending and earthbending to try to control the flames, the rest fanned out on along the broad walls, looking keenly into the night for danger. In less than an hour, the fire was contained.

As the commander of Folly's Fortress strode forward to meet with his officers, one of the guardsmen let out a shout, punching a round boulder into the air and after a moving shadow. A moment later, two guards on the eastern wall fell to the ground and a glint of color flashed in the dusky hue of the burning embers. The commander swallowed reflexively in surprise and sudden fear.

"The Blue Spirit!"

 

-==OOO==-

On Capital Island, less than a day's travel from the main city, shouting rose within a training ground for new firebenders when the dormitory was set on fire.

"Everybody out!" Noin yelled as she bolted through the hallways, ashes and still-burning embers dropping on her unprotected skin from the flaming ceiling above. "Don't try to bend it! Just get out!"

The students, some of them not much more than a dozen years of age, rallied to her voice and began behaving more like proper children of the Fire Nation and less like frightened farm animals. The older ones began using their own firebending to clear a path through the rapidly deteriorating building and to shield the others.

"You'd think a firebending school would be built more resiliently," Noin almost grumbled to herself. But then, the Fire Nation wasn't usually too keen on asking earthbenders to craft their homes either, stupidly, in her opinion. It was half a miracle she was here at all, in fact.

As a portion of the ceiling above her started to collapse, Noin reacted instinctively, slamming her fists upwards and raising a portion of the earth beneath the tiled flooring to support it. Then, seeing that most of the students were clear of the building, she drew the earth around herself and pushed herself up on another pillar, breaking through the flimsy roof to where she could see the area more clearly.

Standing almost on her level, perched on the head of the statue to General Iroh that dominated the school's courtyard, was a figure dressed in white, wearing a mask. The light glinted and she recognized the emblem of the Sun Warriors proudly shining on the mask's brow. The figure lifted his arms and a new conflagration of flame burst into the air around him.

Noin had only a moment to realize that he intended to kill her.

 

-==OOO==-

Relena raced along the paths she knew so well, making good use of her natural swiftness. Only a furlong from the palace she finally caught up to the retreating figure.

"Stop!" she shouted. The figure before her froze and she sprinted even harder to catch up to him. But when she was two steps away, the ground itself opened, dropping her suddenly and locking her in place as stone closed around her legs.

"I warned you," came the low voice, and the boy turned around, his mask glinting in the moonlight.

"I know," Relena replied stubbornly. "But I don't care about that. Besides, you're hurt!" she pointed to where blood trickled down his arm from a shard of stone.

The boy said nothing, nor moved a muscle as Relena tore at her wrap until she had a length of cloth. She held it up and waited. After a moment, the boy bent and she wrapped it around his arm. She could feel his tension where he was ready to spring at the slightest wrong move. Forcing her hands not to shake, she completed her task quickly.

"What were you doing at the palace?" she asked as she tied the ripped cloth tightly.

"It's better if you don't know more than you already do. I should kill you," he replied in a very cold voice.

"But you haven't. And I don't think you will. Just tell me. Why are you doing this?"

He turned away and she thought he wouldn't answer. Then, from a pocket of his clothing he drew something out and tossed it to her. Even in the dark, Relena could make out the Earth Kingdom sigil on a piece of heavy black metal. Not the kind used for armor or doors or anything else that was normally metalbent. This was…

"Weapons?" she asked with wide eyes.

"Not anymore," he answered. Then he bent close to her, and Relena could see his blazing eyes through the darkness of the mask. "I'm going to leave you here. They'll find you sooner or later. Scream if you want it to be sooner. But if you come after me again, I _will_ kill you. Stay out of this war. It's no place for you."

He started to walk away when Relena called after him. "My father is Darlian, and he's part of the Earth King's inner circle. He would never have allowed us to make weapons again! The Earth King doesn't want a war!"

The boy stopped and, without turning back around, laughed bitterly.

"It's not the Earth King I'm worried about." And he disappeared into the night.

 

-==OOO==-

In spite of all the noise downstairs, one lone guard remained at his post, knowing all too well that there was nothing important enough to draw him away from his duties, especially during an attack. He eyed the nearby cauldron of water, absently stirring it from a distance as though in readiness. He longed to know what might be happening, but he could not leave the corridor.

He probably should have. The only warning he had was a shadow moving swiftly in his direction. Then he felt his whole body seize up as though locked in place.

"Don't fight me," whispered a low, mocking voice. "I won't kill you if I don't have to, but fight me even a little and you'll be dead in seconds."

Then there were two sharp jabs at his chest and his body fell limply to the floor. He couldn't move at all, not even to turn his head.

"I'm going to leave you there, still breathing, if you don't make a sound. If you try anything, though, you won't have time to be sorry."

The guard was loyal, and he knew the importance of what he protected, but something in the fiery, mad eyes behind the fearsome mask told him that the threat was in no way empty. He swallowed against a very dry throat and dropped his eyes. He had a life to think about.

But he watched the shadowy figure in the unagi mask slip past him into one of the rooms beyond. He heard rustlings and the sounds of boxes being opened, but without being able to see into the room, couldn't guess what the shadowy figure might want, what might have drawn such danger here. Within moments, the strange individual returned, an obviously full sack slung across his back.

"It'll wear off by sunrise," he said, standing over the paralyzed guard. "Thanks for not making me kill you tonight."

And the thief slid back into the shadows, slinking through the corridor until there was no telling where he had gone.

 

-==OOO==-

The Chairman himself was a firebender, so he fell into an offensive position and launched a jet of flame, hoping to knock the unknown airbender off balance enough to gain some kind of advantage. Almost nonchalantly, his opponent dodged the blast, simultaneously pulling the Chairman forward from the balcony with a grip of wind and slamming the double-doors closed behind, trapping them both in the room.

"You are corrupt. You want nothing more than your own power and to serve your masters in leading this world to war," the airbender said, dropping to a crouch. "You cannot be permitted to follow through with your plans."

"My plans are none of your concern!" Dulindal growled, still feeling oddly out of breath. He knew if a person was high enough up, on a mountain or riding a creature capable of flight, that the air would be thinner and breathing could be difficult. But in his own chambers?

"They became my concern when you betrayed your position."

The Chairman suddenly realized that the airbender had never quite stopped moving, and that he seemed to be breathing rather hard himself. But not in exertion. As though...

"You're going to suffocate me!" he stepped back in horror. "How is that even possible?"

The airbender smiled grimly and did not answer.

Dulindal let loose another blast of flame, this one igniting several pieces of furniture. The airbender whirled in place, and as he did, the fire grew larger and hotter as he fed it with air. And now it was clear that he had created a great sphere of wind surrounding them both, and with each passing moment seemed to be drawing the air from within it.

"You're an airbender," the Chairman spat. "You don't kill. It's your way."

"Don't confuse airbenders with Air Nomads," he replied almost mockingly. "It's a fatal mistake."

The Chairman charged forward, fist poised to slam the airbender with as much strength and fire as he could call upon. At the last instant, the unknown airbender leaped until he was balanced on top of the large sphere of wind, looking down.

"You are finished."

The air around him seemed to _snap_ , and the Chairman clawed at his throat when he could not inflate his lungs. He dropped to his knees, soundlessly screaming.

The last sight before the world faded to nothingness was the blank, empty mask.

 

-==OOO==-

It only took the commander a moment to regain control.

"Stay on the walls!" he ordered. "I'll take care of this spirit." But even as he drew a thick column of rock upwards to reach the level of the parapets, he wondered if this was such a good idea. The Blue Spirit was legendary, a force that only showed itself in times of true turmoil, and always acting to assist the Avatar. It had not been seen since the death of Avatar Yuy, and rarely before then – perhaps once or twice in a generation. Except in the time of Avatar Aang, of course, when it had proved to be ferocious and deadly.

If this truly was the Blue Spirit, the commander had no idea what he would do about it.

But this was a time for action, not contemplation. He moved along the parapet quickly, heading towards where he had seen the flash in the dim light of that distinctive face. He was about halfway between the burned-out north tower and the message relay tower when he spotted something moving again.

"Stop! This is my fortress," he said firmly. "Whatever your purpose, I cannot let you harm my men or the merchants who shelter here."

There was a pause, and then the form stepped more clearly into the light. Its body was basically person-shaped, but instead of hands it bore two curved, wicked-looking blades. And the face – there was no denying that was the face of the Blue Spirit, oddly red reflecting the flickering light of the dying flames.

The spirit raised one of its bladed hands as if in salute and backed up slightly.

Suddenly the figure went sort of blurry, as if obscured by smoke. Without moving, without so much as shifting position, it rose up into the air. The commander felt a new prickle of sweat break out on his forehead – that was no airbending feat, but a true spirit power. Even airbending masters had to move to do something like that.

The spirit hung in the air like a mysterious moon for a moment before whatever made it appear so fuzzy increased and the figure vanished. When the strange cloud fell away, there was no sign of the Blue Spirit.

No longer stilled into inaction by surprise, the commander rushed forward. But there was nothing to see. The rock looked as it always had, crunching underfoot with ash and rubble from the incident. Peering over the edge of the wall, the commander could only see the darkness the ocean and the rocks below. He ran a hand through his hair and turned back to his men.

"Get this place cleaned up and get those cowardly merchants back in here before they fall into the sea in a panic," he said. "I've got messages to send at once."

 

-==OOO==-

Noin managed to bring up a portion of the earth pillar she had created in time to hold back the flames and protect herself. The instant the fire stopped streaming from either side of her shield she dropped it and prepared herself to fight.

Her opponent had disappeared.

But a moment later she spotted him again. With a jet of flame from each hand to propel him, the masked firebender had thrown himself into the air and was just landing on the roof that still burned around them both. With each step, he swung his arms sharply and yet more fire lanced out and down into the building. He seemed determined to char it to nothingness, even as he charged her.

"What are you doing? There are children here!" Noin shouted. "They're just students!"

"Any who prepare to use their fire to take a life should also be prepared to have their lives taken from them by fire!" an imperious voice replied. The figure jumped from his position and executed a flawless kick, blazing flames following the arc of the blow. Noin had to leave her pillar to roll along the smoldering roof-tiles to evade it.

"And what is an earthbender doing here but preparing for war?" the masked attacker turned to face her. "You are dishonorable to speak of sparing the innocent when you train them to kill!"

"I don't want anybody to have to fight!" Noin replied angrily. "I'm here for the bending! But I'll fight you to protect these children if I have to!"

"So be it."

He lifted his arms in what looked more like a waterbending pose, and the fire consuming the building around them rose up like a tidal wave. Noin felt terror quicken in her heart and she spared no thought for combat. Instead, she flung herself off the roof entirely, landing with the earth cradling her. As the wave of fire began to crash down, she rolled to where the gathered students still clung to one another with wide eyes.

"Get down!" she screamed.

The children ducked and cowered, and Noin summoned all her strength, raising an enormous amount of stone and earth in a dome over them. She could feel the heat of the flames through the stone, even before she got to her feet and pressed her palms against the earth. In the darkness, the heat was stifling, and the children whimpered.

But Noin twisted her feet into the earth and reached with her senses. Just as an earthbender could bend metal by feeling the earth embedded in it, she could sense their surroundings through the earth at least somewhat. Taking a deep breath, she lashed out, crashing an enormous block of earth to where she knew there had once been a school. And an enemy.

As the fire around her shield cooled almost at once, she dropped the stone and stepped out.

The building was absolutely demolished – between the fire and the wedge of stone that had torn through it, there was nothing salvageable about it. The mysterious attacker was stretched out on the ground, mask a little askew. Noin approached cautiously.

She couldn't see his whole face, but she could clearly see that he was young, as young as many of her pupils. She stopped and stared in sheer surprise.

His eyes opened and he righted the mask as he leaped to his feet.

"You are strong, but still too weak for war. Stay with your students and study bending. If you cannot kill an enemy, you will never be able to protect anyone."

Before Noin could respond, he turned and fled, disappearing into the hazy smoke of the fire and the jagged rocks beyond.

 

-==OOO==-

 

Check out the awesome art created by Miranda Shadowind for this chapter!


	4. The Flag is Calling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Last night, there was an attack on the palace," Noventa began without preamble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me just say – ye GODS Gundam Wing has a lot of characters! And I think I got almost all of them in here. Might have missed one or two named bit people who might or might not speak, but for the most part I found a place for everybody in this world. I'm going to vow now, though, never to write with such a full cast. Keeping it straight would have been impossible if I wasn't working from a coherent base.
> 
> Also, I'm tossing around the idea of upping the posting schedule from once a week to twice. Any thoughts?
> 
> Maybe next chapter I'll tell you about the soundtrack in more detail. Anybody know someone who makes good AMVs and might want to do one for Gundam Wing to one of my songs?
> 
> Enjoy!

In the council chamber of the Earth Kingdom, the nobles and advisors spoke in low, nervous voices. There was a great deal more rumor than fact flying about in the city, and the sheer amount of unconfirmed information had everyone on edge, even on top of the attack in the heart of Ba Sing Se.

"All rise for the Earth King."

Silence fell to the soft slide of brocade as the nobles and advisors took their places in pairs at small tables that faced the central dais. The throne of the Earth King was worked in perfect gold, with two smaller golden chairs to either side. These stood empty until their occupants followed their king into the room.

Earth King Noventa entered, head held high with dignity. He nodded courteously to the gathered crowd before taking his seat, at which time the others sat as well. The doors to the room were then secured, one by the Lightning Count, General Zechs, and the other by Secretariat and Chancellor Darlian. Then the two men stepped onto the dais as well, Zechs at the Earth King's right hand and Darlian at his left.

"Last night, there was an attack on the palace," Noventa began without preamble. "General Zechs informs me that the goal of the attack appears to have been a portion of Old Ba Sing Se which was little-used and even less known to outsiders. Chancellor Darlian assures me there was nothing stored in that part of the city that would be worth such an attack."

"My lord," one of the nobles stood.

"Yes, Under-Secretariat Septum?"

"My sources suggest that last night's attacked coincides with similar attacks on Capital Island, Republic City, and Ice Haven, as well as a disturbance at Folly's Fortress. Only one conclusion can reasonably explain these events, your majesty."

"You are suggesting that the outlands that have long desired independence have decided to take violent action against us," Darlian's face creased in concern. "I will be the first to admit that our negotiations with the many peoples who seek self rule have been frustrating, but I do not accept that they would so quickly turn to war as an option. And, frankly, they are not so united the world over as to include attacking the Fire Nation and Republic City as well as ourselves."

"Is it possible," Zechs spoke up, "that they attack us because they believe they may be attacked themselves?"

"Why do you ask?" Noventa asked.

"Because, your majesty, you know as well as I do that the rumors of either an immanent Earth Kingdom or Fire Nation attack have gained a great deal of attention in the last few months. I am not defending whoever chose to bring violence into the palace," he held up his hands, "but if you think of it from their perspective, that a much greater force might be gathering against them, you could understand that fear might drive someone desperate to such lengths."

"You speak well, Zechs," the Earth King nodded. "Still, their fear is no excuse for violence. I believe we must take some course of action to ensure we can protect our citizens while we still leave open the path of communication."

"Your majesty," Septum spoke up, "I believe we must make it clear that the Earth Kingdom is safe for all, whether they wish to remain with us or not. I am not suggesting we go to war, but imposing a firmer, more martial control over our lands will both reassure our populace and remind the rebels that they must work with us, not against us, or they will gain nothing."

"Martial law is never a good response, even to this situation," Darlian replied. "It will only frighten people and confirm the worst fears and rumors amongst those whose trust we have already lost."

"What do you think, Zechs?" Noventa asked. The masked general was silent for a moment before answering.

"We do not know the aim of the intruder, nor his motivations. We cannot assume his actions speak for anyone but himself. Unless your majesty has changed your opinion, if we intend to resist the calls for independence across the kingdom, we cannot show weakness now. While I agree with Chancellor Darlian that martial law is a dangerous option, I believe it may also draw out whatever forces are already massed against us so we may face them openly."

"I, too, agree that it is regrettable but necessary to increase our military presence and strength throughout the kingdom," the Earth King said. "Chancellor Darlian, I will leave it to you to ensure that those with whom we are negotiating understand this is as much for their protection as our own. As General Zechs says, we do not know who attacked us or why. We must be prepared to respond quickly and decisively if necessary."

"Your majesty, I know you want the very best for your kingdom, but I believe this is a mistake," Darlian said, his face drawn. "I will, however, support you as always. But please allow me to pursue my own attempts to ensure the peace and the continuing open communication between us and the representatives seeking independence."

"Very well. Under-Secretariat Septum, see to the institution of martial law, but only in as much as is absolutely necessary to ensure the kingdom's security. Darlian, you do as you see fit and I shall choose to trust to your judgment. General Zechs, I would ask you to continue the investigation of the incident itself."

The Earth King rose and looked out at the other nobles gathered near, most of whom were present for ceremonial purposes rather than because their opinions were of value; as certain families had inherited more than one position on the council since its birth in the Year of the Comet, it had grown rather beyond usefulness. Except in one respect.

Earth King Noventa knew well that in this room might be a voice speaking to the attacker, to the groups seeking independence, and to any unknown allies or enemies that had yet to choose a side. He would be foolish indeed to assume that every person before him was totally loyal and totally trustworthy. It was sometimes dangerous to speak before them, but, in this case, potentially very beneficial.

"It is my will that peace rule in my kingdom, but if the forces of divisiveness bring blood to my people we will answer them tenfold. I will protect what is mine until we reach an accord with those who seek their own destinies. But if those who ask for independence come to me with open minds and hearts, I will hear them."

With that, the Earth King swept from the room, leaving his nobles with their thoughts.

-==OOO==-

"You wanted to see me, Fire Lord?"

"Yes. You are aware of the attack on the firebending prodigy school last night?" the shadowy figure wreathed in flames spoke with a deep, gravelly tone.

"I am," Treize answered, carefully not looking up from where he had settled himself in a perfect bow.

"This is an attack on our sovereignty, on the very heart of the Fire Nation. It is a declaration of war from those foolish enough to believe they can stand against us. We cannot let it pass without action."

"What are your orders, Fire Lord?" Treize asked, keeping his tone smooth and neutral.

"This is the work of those blasted 'independents.' Find them, hunt them down like animals, and destroy them, every man and woman who participated in the plot to bring harm to our nation. We will show the world that the Fire Nation is powerful enough to fear nothing."

"As you wish," Treize bobbed his head slowly before rising and making his way out of the chamber. A few corridors down, he was not surprised to find himself shadowed.

"Lady Une," he greeted her politely.

"The Fire Lord has declared war," she said simply. It was not a question. She knew as well as Treize that their Fire Lord would not react with any sort of caution to the attack.

"He has, in all but name."

"General Treize," Une's tone was sharp, "you know there were other attacks. If this was the work of the independents, they had no reason to attack at Republic City, nor at Ice Haven, and even if the fire at Folly's Fortress cannot be coincidence, it serves even less purpose than the other two. The Earth King has already given General Zechs orders to find out who attacked the palace at Ba Sing Se, and Chancellor Darlian is attempting to keep negotiations continuing. A declaration of war from the Fire Nation will only complicate matters and make it more difficult to learn the truth about the attack on our school."

"I agree," Treize nodded, leading the way out of the palace and into the bright gardens. Not only would they there be free of the aura of the Fire Lord's fury, but they could speak without being overheard by guards. "However, we are both beholden to our Fire Lord until such time as he is succeeded, and I have my orders. And, to my way of thinking, this may be precisely what is needed to end the current stalemate."

"How so?"

"For generations, people have been searching for the strength to decide their own futures and for generations they have failed. Avatar Yuy might have guided the world to a place where small communities could stand like Republic City and take a place for themselves, but with his death they have withered. They chafe under the Old Four, and yet they do nothing."

"General..." Une trailed off at the sharp look in Treize's blue eyes. His golden-brown hair, not nearly as near-silvery pale as his niece Dorothy's, but with the same streak of Nomad blood that wound through his whole family, hooded his expression, but not enough to hide it from her.

"The Fire Nation has declared war even if it is a silent declaration. When we learn against whom we will be fighting, we will know if the independents are strong enough to stand against the world. And if they do not stand, and our enemy is another force, then for the sake of peace in the Fire Nation we will destroy them. Either way, there is much to be learned."

"General," Une tried again, "the Fire Lord does not see things that way. He wants the independents wiped out, whether or not they were behind this. And if he learns that you seek not his will, but your own, you will be in danger."

"That may be so, but it doesn't matter. The Fire Lord sees me as a threat already, though I know I am not."

"But, Treize, you..."

"I do not want the seat of power," Treize looked away, straightening his gloves even though they appeared to be not even a little out of place. "With my sister's death, the throne must fall to myself or to Dorothy, and Fire Lord Dermail favors her over me. I know for myself that my hands are not clean enough to rule. If my father cannot know this of me, no warning will save me, even though I know you mean well by it."

He regarded her evenly, taking in the tight braids coiled together at the nape of her neck that held her long brown hair, the bright intelligence that shown in her eyes. She, like him wore the uniform of the army, and like him, wore it with every seam straight and every stitch in line. She was an embodiment of formality and honor and strength. How it amazed him still that he had won this woman's powerful loyalty.

"My lady, we have a task to accomplish. The Fire Lord has ordered that we find the independents who staged the attack and destroy them. Though I am not convinced we will find forces of the independents when we finish our search, we must obey these orders for now. I am counting on you to help me."

"Yes, General," she replied, straightening up from her rigid posture into one even more unforgiving. "I will begin at once."

"And my lady?" He caught her hand for a moment, and held it, and her eyes, with his. "Do what you must, but remember always that we fight not for the Fire Lord, but for the Fire _Nation_. When one must be upheld over the other, remember our people. If we die, we die not for a man, but for each other."

-==OOO==-

Noin leaned on the door-frame. She then had to duck to avoid a sudden splash of what, if experience was any teacher, was extremely cold water. Still, it was a near thing.

"Sorry! I didn't realize it was you," called the young woman garbed in blue within. "Come on in. I'm just a little on edge."

"We all are," Noin replied. "So, it's true then? You're going back?"

"If you mean 'did I receive a messenger hawk telling me to get myself to the North Pole as soon as possible,' then yes, I did." She ran a hand through the thick pale brown hair that framed her face. "I've done everything I can do here. Unless you are keeping something from me? You wouldn't be trying to sneak out with an injury, would you?"

"No," Noin held up her hands, laughing, "no, I'm fine, Sally. Just a couple of bumps and bruises. Nothing serious. I know what happens when I try to evade a healing from you!"

"Glad to hear it," Sally nodded, but she still looked sharply, eyes raking from Noin's military-cut Earth Kingdom uniform to her boyishly short dark hair. "It's been a long time since I've seen you in anything other than Fire Nation red."

"Well, all my local stuff got burned anyway, and you're not the only one with orders to go home," Noin answered, taking a seat on the room's only chair and watching Sally sort her bandages. "I got a hawk from Zechs. He needs me back at Ba Sing Se, not that he told me why."

"Have I mentioned recently how glad I am _not_ to be the one in between the two stubbornest generals ever named in the history of either the Fire Nation or the Earth Kingdom? If the Water Tribes had high generals, with my luck they'd have picked me and I'd have to deal with them all the time."

Sally and Noin shared a grin.

Noin had trained alongside Zechs for years, and was considered to be his only true rival at earthbending (and one of his truest friends as well). Zechs, however, recognized only one rival, and that was General Treize of the Fire Nation. Zechs and Treize had been friends, allies, enemies, rivals, and everything in between for years. Treize even owed Zechs his life, and it was a debt he did not take lightly. With Noin often traveling when Zech's duties kept him close to the Earth King, she had sometimes served as the line of communication between the two powerful men.

Sally, a waterbender and healer from the Mid-Water Tribe, neither Southern or Northern but rather those benders who eschewed the frozen remotes, had crossed her path many times, and had had cause to work with her as bender and healer. Where Noin followed Zechs, and Treize had his own lieutenant in Une, Sally answered only to the clan leaders of the Water Tribes, and held no loyalty besides them. In as much as trust was possible in the chaotic world around them, Noin and Sally had come to regard one another as friends.

"I heard that the Fire Lord is pretty upset about the attack," Sally continued. "I think things are about to get a lot worse for everybody."

"I know," Noin sighed. "Zechs did include in his note the fact that the Earth King authorized martial law across the kingdom."

"But that will only scare and anger them more!" Sally returned. "And not just the independents, but those who haven't made up their minds about it yet."

"Maybe," Noin shrugged. "But we can't let people just attack like that, either. I don't want to fight, and I don't want another war, but we do have to protect ourselves."

"I'm the first one to agree with you," Sally nodded, "but only if we're protecting ourselves from the right people. Half the independents are village alliances that only have a couple of benders. If you ask me, I'd worry less about the people stirring up the politics and look at the ones who _should_ be."

"What do you mean?"

"A handful of non-benders won't gain much from inciting the anger of the Old Four. They _might_ be crazy enough to try it, but I don't think they are really that suicidal. So who would benefit from the attack? Look there, and that will tell you a lot more about who we should be fighting."

"Maybe," Noin said again.

"Will the Earth King be calling on the Mechanists to involve themselves?" Sally tipped her head curiously.

"I don't think so," Noin frowned. "They're not exactly loyal."

"I thought they weren't arguing for independence?" That was a question.

"Oh," Noin huffed a laugh. "They're not, really. But they don't want to belong to the Earth Kingdom, either. And they half don't belong to us to start with. Being all holed up in that spot on the coast, they're perfectly able to forge their own alliances the way Republic City did before it was a true nation. And since nobody really can get them to do anything they don't want to do, we all try to pretend they aren't there. It's easier than negotiating with them or thinking too much about what treasures they might be hiding."

Noin stood. "Anyway, I just came to say goodbye and to wish you luck."

"Thanks for that," Sally said, pausing in her work to face her friend fully. "I don't mind telling you I'm not sure where this is going to take me. I just hope I don't end up having to fight against you or Zechs or even Treize, not that I'd stand a chance against any of you."

"You're a better warrior than you let on, and don't think I don't know it," Noin said with a wry smile. "But I understand." She held out a hand. "Keep in touch if there's something you think I should know. Maybe if we listen to the right people at the right times and places we can bring this thing to an end before it gets out of hand. And," she swallowed before speaking softly, "if it comes to the point where you and I have to fight each other, there might not be hope for anyone."

"That's true," Sally took the hand. "Then here's to solving the mystery before the world loses its way."

Sally's clear blue eyes, which always looked to Noin as if they were pools of still water, met hers steadily. Sally was very Water Tribe in every way that mattered, including a powerful belief in community and alliances. Noin felt a part of herself relax very slightly.

If the Water Tribes were getting involved, there was hope that the Fire Lord's anger and the Earth King's pride would be tempered enough to save them all.

-==OOO==-

From a lonesome ship in the middle of the ocean, a white-haired man released a black hawk to the sky, its message-ring stuffed with multiple scraps of paper. The hawk knew it would be journeying to many different hands before it returned to its master.

On every message it carried was scrawled the same line:

"Initial assault successful. Begin second phase."


	5. Remember the Name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A week after the attack, Relena was accompanying her father to an official function when everything changed again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter felt a little short to me, so here's one that feels a little longer. And...yeah, at this point I'm going to start deviating from the original GW story more than I already had. But it seems to work better. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
> 
> Check out the end of the chapter for this story's soundtrack challenge!
> 
> Enjoy!

The news that came flying into Ba Sing Se of the blood-chilling assault and theft from Ice Haven, the assassination of the Chairman from Republic City, and the destruction of the school on Capital Island rattled the city in combination with the rumors about what had happened at the palace. The whispers through the city were that terrorists had attempted to kill the Earth King, or that someone had _already_ killed the Earth King and the man at the council meeting had been a fake. Of course, the actual fact of the events was also explained through more official channels, but rumors were so much more interesting.

For her part, Relena listened carefully when people spoke around her and shared nothing of what she had seen that night with anyone but her father. She'd given him the piece of metal from the strange earthbender she'd met, and he had closed his eyes wearily upon receiving it.

"If that young man spoke the truth," he had said heavily, "we have much greater problems than I feared."

Relena did not see much of her father for a few days while he carried out his duties to appease the many voices clamoring for answers and explanations, still holding firm to his belief that, in the end, those requesting independence from the Earth Kingdom deserved to receive it – and no amount of chaos in the world could change his mind no matter what the more militant of the council said. Though not a bender, Darlian had been friends with Avatar Yuy many years before and shared his beliefs. The possibility of weapons kept secretly in the palace worried him deeply and he also began quietly investigating that himself.

A week after the attack, Relena was accompanying her father to an official function when everything changed again.

Darlian was meeting with several representatives of the independence-seeking regions for dinner in the Middle Ring of Ba Sing Se, both to reassure them that he had not been swayed by the attack and to establish their feelings on it that he could better represent them to the Earth King. Relena was again watching and listening carefully, this time to the impassioned arguments of the representatives, admiring her father's calm and reasoned diplomacy, when a blur out the window drew her attention. It was the shape of a man, dressed in black with a cloth tied under his eyes to conceal his face. He raised his hands and Relena's stomach constricted in sudden fear.

"Father, look out!" she shouted from her place in a chair at the other end of the room.

But Darlian was not quick enough. A blast of fire erupted from the window and caught him full in the chest before it whipped through the room, striking other delegates as they tried to flee.

Relena felt herself falling backwards as a block of earth rose up to protect her from the flames. The air was stifling and the smoke made her eyes burn and she didn't know if she was choking or crying or screaming. A pair of arms encircled her waist and yanked her through a hole in what had been the wall. She sputtered as her lungs hit the cooler air.

"Just hang on," a voice commanded, and in the fuzz of her mind Relena had no idea if the voice was familiar or strange, or even male or female. Then, "I don't see him!" was shouted from over her shoulder to someone else in the hazy dark.

"I'm going after Darlian," another voice said, and now Relena was able to blink enough tears from her eyes to see the pale light of the starlit night glinting off the distinctive mask of the Lightning Count. He strode through the hole in the building to where flames still burned hotly and smelled of something awful.

"Father!" Relena cried out, trying to get to her feet. The arms around her waist pulled her back and held her tightly.

"Easy, easy," soothed the first voice. "You can't help him. If there's…if there's a point to it, Zechs will get him out."

Relena turned to see a face she knew, not personally, but well enough from official circles. Except when on business for the Earth King, Lieutenant Noin was often at the side of General Zechs. The earthbender shifted her grip so she was more supporting Relena than restraining her.

"What's going on?" Relena asked through her dry and smoke-clogged throat.

"We learned that something like this might happen," Noin answered, leading Relena to sit against the wall of a nearby building and standing over her protectively. "We came as quickly as we could."

Only now was Relena becoming aware of the other people around them, all wearing the uniform of the guards that were directly under the command of the Lightning Count. They were fanned out in the streets, even a few on rooftops, in defensive positions.

"Why?" Relena demanded. "Why was this done?"

"Because Darlian speaks for those whom others wish to keep silent," came the low, even voice of Zechs himself. Noin did not budge from her position, but it was clear enough in her face that she wanted to move to his side, to help him with the limp form thrown over one shoulder. "Someone get a healer here _now_!" he shouted with sudden, unbridled anger in his voice.

"Father!" Relena ducked past Noin and skidded to where Zechs set the Chancellor on the ground. Relena clapped both hands against her mouth in horror. She could barely recognize her father in the burned wreck before her. She fought not to be sick.

"Relena..." Darlian rasped, his commanding voice ruined.

"Father," she felt tears begin.

"Relena...you...you must take your place..."

"My place? Where? Father, what do you mean?" She leaned closer, ignoring the running footsteps of the approaching healer.

"Before Dulindal...one family served Republic City with wisdom and patience...not as Chairman, but as...Peacecraft. You...you are the last." He coughed violently.

"Father, what are you saying?" Relena fought her tears.

"Your...brother...will explain..."

"Brother?"

"Take your place, Relena...as a Peacecraft..."

"Father!" Relena would have thrown her arms around him but Noin again pulled her back as the healer threw everyone else aside. "Father, no!"

"Can you save him?" the general demanded.

"No," was the soft answer. "It's already too late."

" _Father_!"

-==OOO==-

Hours later, though it felt like years, Relena realized she was in the sitting room of her own house, tucked amidst blankets on her favorite, softest chair with a cup of warm tea in her hands. She only vaguely remembered hearing the news given to her mother by General Zechs and watching the woman who was so often a tower of serene strength collapse with grief. Noin had vanished with her, helping her to bed. Now Relena was surprised by the silence.

And she was not alone, she noticed finally.

"General?" The word came out low and thick.

"Relena," the Lightning Count looked at her, his mouth turned down. He had been staring out the front window, hands clenched behind him, and in spite of his military posture she could read deep tension in his whole being. She wondered what the rest of his expression would have looked like. "There is much you must know, and I am sorry to have to explain it to you now, when you are in such pain. But there is no time."

She nodded. She didn't trust her voice.

"What Darlian was trying to tell you tonight is something known only to a few of us – myself, the Earth King and two of his oldest advisors, your mother, and Noin. It has been kept secret because the truth could have been dangerous." He breathed out a long sigh before beginning to pace slowly about the room.

"Many years ago, not long after the death of Avatar Yuy, the old leader of Republic City was relieved of his position. He and his forefathers had always stood in a position of humble power, a balance to the City's Council that could speak with the wisdom of a lifetime of study and a long line of experience. Each person to carry the position was given the title of 'Peacecraft,' for they were neither King nor Lord, but the voice of reason and balance in statecraft. Marticus Peacecraft did not step down willingly as had all his predecessors, however. He was forced out by the same sinister powers that moves against us all even now." He looked at her very closely. "The same that killed your father tonight."

Relena gasped in a breath, but maintained her composure. Zechs nodded at her and continued.

"Marticus Peacecraft was outdone by politics and lies," the general's words became bitter and clipped, "and in a world with no Avatar, none found the courage to stand with him. He was forced to flee, taking his family with him – a son already beginning instruction in statecraft and a newborn daughter. Marticus knew his enemies would not leave him alone, and he also could not give up his great work of fostering cooperation and peace throughout the world. He and his family agreed to sacrifice everything to keep that dream alive."

General Zechs turned and faced Relena directly. Then, to her surprise, he cupped her cheek gently. It was only when she noticed the color of his eyes did she realize he had taken the chance to remove his mask – the mask he never, ever was seen without. His face was smooth and delicately shaped, and his eyes were bright and very kind. And familiar.

"I was just a bit younger than you are now, Relena," he said softly. "I was just about to leave Republic City for the Earth Kingdom to study earthbending. Earth King Noventa offered Marticus Peacecraft a safe haven and the position of Chancellor. His only condition was that no one know that the man closest to him, his most trusted advisor, was the former Peacecraft of Republic City. That's how Marticus Peacecraft became Darlian, Chancellor of the Earth Kingdom. And how I chose to don the mask to protect his identity and took on the name Zechs."

Relena stared. Though not so broad, his face was nearly identical to her father's. If not for the striking, near-white color of his hair, they could have been brothers. Her eyes widened in realization.

"You're...you're my brother. I have an older brother."

"Yes," he said softly. "Marticus Peacecraft had a son, Millardo, but if it were known that he and I were one in the same, our whole family would have been in danger. Our father's death would have come that much sooner from the enemies he left behind in Republic City who still sought to remove him from power." He looked away. "So we decided to raise you in ignorance of your true heritage, and of me."

"But, didn't you...?"

"I missed my family every day," he answered her unfinished question. "But I was never very far away. I became a splendid earthbender, and with that, gained the chance to work side-by-side with our father, even if we didn't always see things the same way in the council chamber. And I watched you growing up, probably more closely than you ever realized. Millardo never forgot his family, but Zechs could have no family, in case it brought enemies to them."

He went quiet for a moment, and Relena realized belatedly that Zechs – her brother Millardo – had also lost his father tonight, a father he had been distant from for most of his life, a father he failed to save in time. She didn't know she was going to do it, but he just looked so lost, with the exact same expression she had seen on her father's face many times as he tried to find a way out of a terrible situation. She couldn't help it.

Relena threw her arms around him, half falling from her chair and spilling her tea everywhere, and buried her head in his chest. His arms came up to hold her without hesitation.

And they mourned.

A long time later, Millardo pulled back, smiling fondly and sadly at the disheveled sister before him. He reached out tentatively, and when she didn't prevent him, tucked her hair that had fallen loosely over her face behind her ear. She smiled wetly through her tears and did the same for him. They both laughed a little.

"Thank you," he said, meaning not the gesture, but the silent comfort and refuge she had given him.

"So what happens now?" Relena found herself asking. Really, she wasn't nearly done struggling with her father's death, but she was tired now of those feelings and a distraction was welcome.

"Do you understand now what father's last words to you meant?"

"I think so," she answered slowly. "Chairman Dulindal is dead, and Republic City doesn't have a person to lead the Council. Father wanted me to go and claim that place." Her brother nodded, but she frowned. "Why me, though? You're older and more experienced."

"And I am needed here," he said. "It is more important than ever for me to remain with the Earth King as an advisor. Father and I were always trying to prevent a war, even if we had different ideas about how best to do that. If I leave my place now, we will both have failed. But you can lead the people – I know you can. And you must. Republic City must return to a path of interconnectedness and peace. If it falls to chaos, so will the world."

"But I don't know how. I've never..."

"You'll be all right," he interrupted her. "You're kind and patient and brave. You believe in the best in people, and you believe in peace. And you won't be alone. Noin will be with you."

"Noin?"

"There is too much I must do here. I trust Noin to know how best to help you and protect you."

"But why does Noin know all about this?" Relena remembered the odd addition to the list of people who were aware of her family's secrets.

Millardo gave her a _look_. A very deliberate _look_. Relena blushed in realization.

"Oh! That's wonderful! I mean, um, never mind," she looked away, her face hot.

"It's all right," he smiled gently at her, touching her hair fondly. Even having not grown up beside her, Relena could see plainly that her brother loved her with all his heart. "Noin will also be able to provide the proof of your identity. It must be revealed that father was Marticus for you to take his place, and her authority will help with that."

"But if his secret must come out anyway, won't you be discovered?"

"That's why I wear the mask. And between that and this," Millardo ran a hand through his distinctive near-white hair, "it's unlikely anyone will make the connection."

"Why _do_ you have hair like that?" Relena asked. "I've heard stories, but they _can't_ be true."

"I started half those rumors myself, including the one about a very angry boarcupine," he smiled ruefully. "But that's a story for a happier time. Let Noin tell it. She tells it better than I do – and more often."

"You're leaving." It wasn't a question. Relena knew that expression very well. She had seen it on her father's face many, many times.

"I must. There is a great deal I must do now," he replied, putting both hands on her shoulders and looking at her seriously. "Trust in Noin. She will almost always have my thoughts, and she knows me well enough to advise you as I would. But trust no one else, Relena. _No one_. And..." He closed his eyes for a moment before continuing.

"There may come a time when you must _not_ listen to me. Noin will tell you that I always do things in my own way. I am not our father. I never could be. You are the true inheritor of his pacifist spirit. If I seem to be acting against you, know that I am never against _you_ , Relena, but I am finding my way in a different manner. Then, too, trust yourself. I trust you."

"I..." Relena took a breath and met his eyes unflinchingly. "I will do my best."

"I know you will."

He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. Relena clung to him, feeling her tears returning. Her father was dead. She had a brother whom she would be leaving for a world of uncertainty, a city she had never known, and a duty beyond her imagination. And it _ached_.

As he released her, Relena sensed a change in the room and turned to where Noin was leaning against the doorway. She smiled sadly.

"You should talk to him more often, Relena," she said. "Even I almost never see him without the mask."

Millardo shook his head at her with a sad smile of his own, looking at the shiny metal he had let fall and was only now taking back into his hands. "If we can navigate these troubled times, if the day comes that I may put it down and face the world, you can be assured I will never ever wear it again as long as I live."

"Then we'll have to make that world happen," Noin stepped close. Relena felt like moving out of their way, but Noin stopped and held out her hand. "Your brother believes in you, and I believe in him. So maybe between us we can banish that mask for good."

Relena met the young woman's eyes and felt, through all her worry and pain and fear, a lot less alone. She took the offered hand.

"We will. You'll see."

-==OOO==-

Unseen, hidden in the shadows of the night on the roof of a particularly tall building, a sharp whistle echoed. A hawk, very large for a messenger-hawk, dove like a shooting star from the sky, landing silently on the arm that was held out for it.

Between the lights of the city and the pale starlight above, the hawk was almost luminous, its white feathers bright in the dark. The streaks of other colors – scarlet and grey and a touch of tan and even dark blue across the chest – broke up its form a little, but not nearly enough.

"Wing, you are the most poorly designed bird for blending in I have ever seen," the owner of the arm grumbled softly. Belying the frustration of the words, however, was the sure, confident movements of neatly extracting the rolled parchment from the messenger-tube without unbalancing the bird. From a hidden pocket, a morsel of meat appeared and the hawk gobbled it greedily, ignoring its handler's focused study of the parchment it had carried.

"I have failed," came the words darkly from the shadow. "And I have new orders. I will have to do something about both these things."

There was the quick sound of ink being set to parchment and a new roll was inserted into the waiting container on the hawk's leg.

"Take this back to him," was the order, "and then keep watch until you find me outside the city, if I survive to meet you there."

Wing was expertly thrown back into the air, immediately living up to his name as he made for the south at speed.

Below, the words he had written were practically burned on his handler's eyes as he turned to leave the shadows at last.

"Mission accepted."

-==OOO==-

Relena woke with a start, feeling the cold of tears on her cheeks. The darkness in the room suggested it wasn't yet near dawn, but she sat up anyway and pulled a blanket around herself. How could she go back to sleep with the image of her father, _burned to death_ , in her mind?

But a moment later, that image was driven entirely away by the silhouette that moved at her window.

Before Relena could make a sound, she felt something oddly cold slap over her mouth. Her hands flew up and she realized it was a chunk of earth. It smelled of her mother's garden.

In another moment, a candle on a nearby table was lighted, not by bending, but the normal way. She blinked in the light and then in surprise to see a familiar form before her. It was the same boy who had attacked the palace, the same boy she had met that day who had hidden his face and had it hidden still behind the mask of an Earth Kingdom warrior.

"Don't scream," he spoke in his distinctive low and slightly nasal voice. "I'm not here to hurt you."

Relena found herself nodding and he waved the clump of earth away from her. She looked at him, eyes widening as he removed the mask she had last seen him in. Without it, his face was again surprisingly young.

"Why are you here?" she found herself asking.

He held out a dagger, pommel facing her.

"I have come to give you the chance to kill me."

"What?!"

"Keep your voice down," he hissed. "We don't need every guard in Ba Sing Se knowing I'm here."

"Oh, sorry." Relena's eyes narrowed, though, and she crossed her arms. "What makes you think I would kill you? Do I look like a killer?"

"No," he said softly. "But it would be your right. I am responsible for the death of your father."

Relena gasped, her hands clenching instinctively. Then she shook her head hard. "No, no, you can't be. You're an earthbender. He was killed by a firebender."

"I didn't kill him myself, no, but I gave you the piece of metal. You gave it to Darlian. He was investigating it when he shouldn't have been. Zechs was leading the investigation, and he was well-protected. But your father got too close to my enemies. And those people who wanted those weapons kept secret couldn't afford to let him live."

He looked at her and Relena noticed for the first time how deep and blue his eyes were.

"I should never have involved you. Because of my actions, your father is dead and war is practically inevitable."

"By that logic," Relena countered, "I'm as much at fault for giving the piece to my father as you are for giving it to me. Should I be asking my mother to kill me?"

"No," and he said it so quickly it surprised them both. "No," a little more softly. "It was not your mission. You are not a part of this war. People like me take on the burden so people like you never have to."

Relena stood up with sudden conviction and took the dagger he still held in his hands. Her mind was filled with her father's horrifying body, the screams of the others at the meeting as they died. She remembered that piece of metal, and absorbed the fact that her choice to give it to her father had caused his death. She thought about what her brother had lost, what might happen in the Earth Kingdom without the calm voice of Darlian to lead. She gripped it tightly.

"You would throw away your life like that?" she demanded. "You would let me kill you? And then how would the cycle end? Who would stop the fighting then?"

"You would," he said with conviction in his voice. "The cycle would die with me. Besides, life is cheap, especially mine."

"You're wrong," she returned, pressing one clenched hand to her chest. "The cycle will not die until the war is over and the forces behind it are brought to see reason. Violence cannot end violence. It must end in peace. That's what the Avatar always taught. And all life is valuable, no matter whose."

To her surprise, he shook his head and huffed. "I didn't know anyone could still believe that. You are very strong to carry that ideal these days."

"I don't feel strong," Relena replied, looking away. "I...I am scared."

Suddenly Relena couldn't help it. She had to tell someone. She couldn't carry it alone. She met the boy's eyes and spoke before she could think about the danger of it. "My father was Marticus, the Peacecraft of Republic City. His dying wish was for me to go there and take his place. Somehow, I have to try to lead an entire nation to the way of peace when the world is crumbling around me."

The boy looked at her steadily for several long, silent breaths. Relena never looked away, but she did wonder at her sudden conviction to trust someone she had less reason to trust than most. Finally, his eyes flicked down to the dagger still held in her hand.

"Are you going to use that?"

"What? No!" she recoiled. "It doesn't matter if it's your fault or mine that my father is dead. Neither of us killed him. We both have to live for what he died to protect. That's our duty now."

The boy huffed at her again, and it might have been her imagination, but Relena thought he might have smiled very slightly – a crack in his stony face.

"Do as you like, then." She made to hand the dagger back to him, but he shook his head. "Keep it. Your journey to Republic City will be very dangerous. You might need it. But you must get there." His burning eyes held hers. "Your ideals may well turn the tide in this war. You must survive to have them heard."

"Come with me," Relena found herself saying. "Come with me and help me."

"I have my mission," he dismissed her. "Although I will sometimes be near. You will speak for peace, and I will kill for it. We will meet again." He stepped backwards to go.

"Tell me your name." She didn't move, but she drew herself up and faced him proudly, holding the dagger still. "Tell me so I know who to call out for in the dark."

"My name doesn't matter," he replied, putting the mask back on and regarding her from behind its empty expression. She was oddly reminded of her brother.

"It matters to me."

"Goodbye, Relena Peacecraft," he said, turning away from her. "You will only see me if I am protecting you or if I have come to kill you."

But he paused at her window and spoke over his shoulder. "But I would rather not kill you. If you call out, I will come." And then, "My name is Heero."

And he dropped out of sight into the dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, as I've mentioned in previous notes, I ended up using a soundtrack to keep me focused and to help me hold onto all the nuances of the story. In the end, the four songs I selected not only ended up telling the story of the story, but they wove their way into the narrative. So, each and every chapter title is an excerpt from one of those songs (sometimes adjusted slightly for grammar).
> 
> I've decided to levy a challenge to you readers. I've already said that after this story I'll be publishing a series of oneshots that expand the tale and the world. Well, here's your challenge: If you can identify any one of the four songs that make up the heart of this story, I will let you choose the subject of a oneshot. You'll have to wait until the end of the story to pick one (unless you want a "deleted scene"), but if you can name the song, you get a oneshot.
> 
> So let the guessing begin! I'll put the correct answer in the chapter when it is guessed and the person who was astute enough to spot it. And fair warning – at least one of the four is going to be HARD. But I have faith in you all.
> 
> Type to you next week!


	6. Unlike Everybody Else

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I will be leaving at sunset," he said without preamble. "There is something I must do – a part of my mission that I must undertake alone."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No takers yet on my challenge last chapter? I'm not actually surprised. I haven't given you a lot to work with yet.
> 
> Also, I love writing Wufei you guys. I also have a dear friend almost exactly like this in real life. I annoy him a ton on principle, and it's as fun as it seems.
> 
> Enjoy!

Outside of a number of tents clustered at the edge of a barren plain, not far from true desert, several men sat going about their duties when one looked up in surprise.

"Rashid, up there!"

The enormous man turned when his name was called to see one of the younger ones pointing into the air. He shielded his eyes against the bright sunlight, searching the sky. After a moment, he too saw what had alerted Abdul. He threw his arm into the air, even as he began walking towards the white tent in the center of the encampment.

"Auda, get the others," he said, striding forward. Because he was expecting it, he did not flinch when an enormous messenger hawk, grey and white and black, with unusual streaks of yellow in its feathers, alighted on his extended forearm. The hawk squawked at him in protest of the bumpy ride, for he continued walking in spite of the bird's landing. His sleeves had enough evidence of similar landings going back many seasons, but desert clothing was durable in spite of the hawk's best attempts.

"Yes, sir!" Auda rose from where he had been repairing a cart and threw out both arms, providing perches to three more, much smaller hawks, all nearly snow-white. He waited until they settled across him before following.

"Master Quatre?" Rashid called, entering the tent that sat at the heart of the camp.

"Yes?" The golden-haired boy looked up from the many papers spread across the rough table, the expression in his green-blue eyes dozens of years beyond his age. He appeared a little wan and weary, but his face transformed as the men entered.

"Sandrock!" he exclaimed with a smile, rising and moving to take the large hawk from Rashid. "You must have come from Omashu." He peered beyond Rashid to the other three hawks. "That's a lot of news from the Order."

"Indeed." Rashid expertly removed the message-tubes from the smaller hawks. "Take them to be fed and rested," he ordered, and Auda nodded, unable to snap a salute or bow with three hawks arrayed on his arms. But he moved as lightly as if he were not the perch to the three birds as he obeyed.

"Master Quatre," Rashid came to stand beside the boy, noting absently the strain in the usually cheerful face, "shall I prepare the men to leave?"

"Not yet, please," Quatre answered politely, settling his large hawk on its designated perch and fetching a piece of dried meat as an offering. "Let me see what we have before we make any decisions."

"As you wish," Rashid nodded. He bowed low to the boy before removing himself – what Master Quatre's messages said were only his business if the boy wished it.

Alone in his tent, Quatre ran a hand through his bright hair, half glad to have news, half fearful. He started with the messages crammed in the smaller tubes from the other birds, the reports from the Order, he suspected. He read out the strips of paper one at a time.

" _Soldier successfully infiltrated Ba Sing Se and destroyed a large cache of new weaponry._ "

" _Shinigami stole documents from Ice Haven confirming plans to move against the Mechanists and the involvement of Ice Haven officials in traitorous activity._ "

" _No-Name assassinated Chairman Dulindal of Republic City._ "

" _Spirit intercepted a number of communications and changed their contents according to plan._ " Quatre smiled at that one. Well, of course he knew that already – he'd been there, after all. Still, it was good to confirm that his identity as Spirit remained unknown to the vast majority of the Order – it gave him a great deal more information as he got his own reports as well as Spirit's missions and updates.

" _Nataku eliminated a Fire Nation storage facility for dangerous information and exposed a potential link to the Earth Kingdom_."

Then there was a series of short, coded messages that gave a new set of contacts as well as updates to the secret words that would allow him entrance to the places across the world where he would find allies and help – he knew Spirit would receive a similar list, albeit a shorter one; Spirit was not expected to need the extensive network of Order strongholds.

But Sandrock had carried a particularly long parchment, and Quatre opened it gingerly at last. This was specifically addressed to Spirit – his new mission instructions. He read through them twice before nodding to himself. It was a sensible course of action, even if it did mean he would be face-to-face with someone who might complicate his plans rather a lot. But there was no help for it.

"Sandrock," he spoke absently to the hawk, "events are moving too fast. Only yesterday we had word of the death of Chancellor Darlian in Ba Sing Se and now this. I don't think there's anything we can do to prevent war at this point. And the forces lining up to create that war are a lot more powerful than we feared. I'm...suddenly not sure this is going to work."

Quatre closed his eyes, stroking Sandrock's feather-soft head gently. He breathed out slowly, as though all the weight of the world were arranged on his shoulders and the movement of the air threatened the weight's precarious balance. But he only gave himself a moment of such uncertainty before lifting his head.

"If we're going to make something of this mess, we need to move soon," and the spark was back in his eyes.

Quatre strode out of the tent with his shoulders back and his chin up. He walked straight into the thick of the men gathered around, most of whom were already waiting for him.

"I will be leaving at sunset," he said without preamble. "There is something I must do – a part of my mission that I must undertake alone."

"Master Quatre!" the cry went up as many of the men got to their feet, shouting in protest. Quatre waited for a few moments, a small smile on his face. But he needed not say anything.

"Enough!" Rashid broke through the noise with his deep voice. "If Master Quatre believes he must act alone, it is our duty to trust in him."

"Thank you Rashid," Quatre nodded to him. "I cannot involve you because I will be meeting up with another mask," he held up his own grey visage of the Blue Spirit. "I must work with them alone if I am to gain their confidence. But make no mistake, I will need your help soon enough."

"You need only command us, Master Quatre," that was Jamal, from his place in the crowd. Many voiced assent.

"Then be prepared to move in case I do need you," he answered. "Otherwise, most likely I will rejoin you in a week or two."

He looked over the men for a bit then, studying their faces, allowing himself the refuge of their loyalty and strength. He might well need it where he was going, where the world seemed headed.

-==OOO==-

"You're leaving, aren't you?"

One green eye peered out from the mess of hair that hid most of the young acrobat's face, but it was enough to see the young woman he had come to know fairly well in his time with the circus. She stood a few paces back, concern marring her sweet features.

"Yes," was all he said.

"Trowa," she stepped forward, "you don't have to go out there again. You hate wandering like this. I can see it in your face."

That elicited a tiny, pleased smile. There was something charming in being a mystery to the world, only to be uncovered by this one slip of a girl who was far too forthcoming in her speech and dangerously accurate with her daggers.

"Please," she reached out as if to put a hand on his shoulder but stopped just short. "You could stay here, have a home with us. Not for the act, and not for the animals, although they do like you. But just for you." Her wide eyes were pleading.

"I'm sorry," Trowa said gently, and truthfully. "But this is something I have to do."

"It's to do with that hawk that came yesterday, isn't it?" At his silence, she pressed on. "Trowa, whatever it is, you can walk away from it. You've been happy here. You don't have to leave."

"Thank you, Catherine," he said, and here he raised his head to look at her fully. "But this isn't something I can choose to walk away from. I have to go."

"Will I ever see you again?" There were tears standing in her eyes, which looked like a storm-tossed sky.

"Maybe," he shrugged. Then, as the tears started to fall, he found himself wanting to reach up to brush them away. But he didn't. "Please don't worry. I'm going where I want to go. You know nothing can hold me down when I choose otherwise."

"Yes, I suppose so," Catherine nodded. He smiled at her a little, pleased that she had kept his secret for weeks. No one else at the circus had ever noticed an airbender in their midst, but Catherine had. And if he shared anything at all with his people, it was a freedom of spirit, a freedom she had recognized, even if she didn't understand his many contradictions.

"Goodbye, Cathy," he said. He took a breath and laid one hand along her wet cheek for a moment before turning away and beginning to walk. He had an enormous amount of ground to cover, and not a lot of time to get there. He did not turn back, even after hearing the stifled sob and smelling the salt of her tears on the wind.

When Trowa was clear of the city, well beyond the many guards on alert, wary and paranoid after the unexpected murder of their leader, only then did he allow himself to consider. His orders were absolutely clear, leaving no room whatsoever for interpretation. And yet, there was something about them he didn't like.

As if summoned, a hawk let out a cry before descending to pause on his shoulder. He took in the deep red-orange of the feathers, colored like the traditional messenger hawks of the Fire Nation, but Heavyarms had only ever answered to Trowa.

There was no new message, but Trowa didn't expect one. Heavyarms had not been gone long enough to have retrieved new orders. Instead, the large bird seemed content to remain with Trowa as he often did. The airbender carefully shifted his shoulder, tipping his head back so he could just see the bright eye of the hawk meeting his own.

"You remember Catherine, right?" he asked. Heavyarms, like all the largest messenger hawks, was highly intelligent, if also very stubborn. Trowa knew he was understood, but that might not be enough if the bird had taken it in his head not to listen. "Not now, but sometimes I might send you back to her, just to make sure she's all right. She was kind to both of us."

Heavyarms preened, never looking completely away from Trowa's face.

"You were never meant to be mine, you know," he said after a moment. "You were meant just to be a part of the mission. They see you as a tool, no different from a saw or a sword. They never noticed your spirit."

Trowa passed a hand across and ran one long finger over the hawk's head in just the way he liked.

"I think they see us both that way. And maybe that's all we are, a tool to prevent war, or, if we fail, to win a war." He looked up to the sky as a brisk wind struck him, bringing with it the scent of the mountains in the far distance that were his destination. The air wrapped around him almost joyously, even though he didn't move to bend it. A true airbender is always bending, with every breath, without stopping. Bending, breathing, freedom – they are all parts of the same whole.

"But I think we can both find more than this if we follow the wind," Trowa said. "You know the winds as well as I do. Lead me, if I go astray."

Heavyarms let out a cry, flapping in the breeze, before settling in on Trowa's shoulder. The airbender smiled and nodded.

Who needed words when the air could speak for them both?

-==OOO==-

The ship chugged northward through the dark, choppy seas. But the compliment of waterbenders on board kept the waves mostly at bay and the sheer size of the metallic vessel did much to steady it. It had once been the design for warships, but now the sight of the imposing metal fleet meant trade and supplies instead of destruction.

To one side, the cold remote waters that would eventually lead to the iceflows where the Northern Water Tribe lived churned. But the other side of the ship provided a view of the mountainous northern coast of the Earth Kingdom. A journey along the land could take months, but the sea provided a much quicker route.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

The young man leaning on the rail staring at the towering mountains turned sharply, clearly not surprised but possibly annoyed at the interruption.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you. You just looked so...serious."

"Possibly because I am thinking."

"Deep thoughts, then, going by your face." She smiled, her blue eyes bright. "I'm Sally."

He scowled at her, but did not move away from the rail, so Sally leaned on it beside him, resting her chin on one hand as she looked at the setting sun's shadows amidst the rocky spires. She subtly glanced again at the young man as he clearly attempted to ignore her. His straight black hair was pulled back tightly from his face, but not in a traditional Fire Nation topknot that his clothing would have matched – rather, it was gathered at the nape of his neck in a narrow tail. His eyes were large and black and very focused. Everything about him seemed intense.

"It's beautiful," she said again, gesturing at the sight. "Doesn't matter how many times I see the mountains and the sea come together – I'm always reminded of how fragile and how perfect it all is."

"Do you intend to disturb my thoughts for much longer?" came the dry response.

"Oh, possibly," Sally grinned at getting a rise out of him. "Nobody else on this ship seems worth the time."

"That," he snorted with disdain, "is at least accurate."

He turned back to the view, but Sally leaned nearer casually and gestured to a dark shape circling the water a little way off. "He's yours, isn't he?"

That got his full attention as he straightened up and faced her. Sally was struck by how young he looked, in spite of the maturity and silence of his bearing.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Of course you do," she returned, not moving from her relaxed posture. "That hawk. He's yours. He doesn't belong to the ship or he'd have come aboard to report to the captain. He isn't anyone else's because there's nobody else here interesting enough to have their own messenger hawk. So that just leaves you."

He was silent and she raised an eyebrow. "Or, if he's not, I could always go and ask the captain about it. He'll probably have a larger hawk who could catch it and bring it in to check..."

The boy's frown deepened. He gave a sharp whistle.

Almost at once, the hawk alighted on the rail beside them. Up close, he was striking in color, mostly white with splashes of red and, surprisingly, some deep indigo mixed into the tail. She also noticed that his message-carrier was empty.

"Satisfied?"

"What's his name?" Sally asked.

"Shenlong," and this time the tone was neither haughty nor dismissive. "He's called Shenlong."

"And who are you that you need such a large messenger hawk?" Sally pressed, her gaze as quick as her mind. "He's large enough to fly a note anywhere in the world, I think."

"I'm nobody," was the response. "He was entrusted to me by someone who believed I could make use of him."

"And do you?"

"No. I don't have anyone to send a message to."

Sally believed him. There was something so stand-offish about him, she could well accept that this young man had few, if any, real connections in the world. That eased her mind a bit. She had been starting to wonder if this was someone she ought to keep an eye on – now, she wouldn't say she believed he was harmless exactly, but at the least he was not an immediate threat.

Just as well. It was going to be hard enough to deal with the Tribes even without a mysterious danger in the mix as well.

"Well," she said, "I hope then that you find someone worth communicating with. It's not right that you should have something others would give half their fortune for and have no use for it."

"Woman, if you are going to tell me to _make friends_ , I will not tolerate it."

That made Sally throw back her head and laugh. "Very well, then I won't. But you should."

"Hmph."

They lapsed into silence, and only the sudden chill of a cold wind, made colder by the fact that the sun had set, reminded Sally that she was not used to the frigid air anymore and decide to go in. The boy still stood, looking across the water at the land, his hand absently curled around the feet of the large hawk. That was interesting; most hawks couldn't abide such familiar touches, even from their handlers. The hawk and the young man must share a special bond.

"I'm going in. You should too. It gets really cold out here at night," she stretched her back languidly.

"I'll be fine."

"I'm sure you will." As she started to walk away, she stopped and turned back. "Tell me your name."

"Why?"

"Because the next time somebody tells you that you ought to _make friends_ you can say you have one and her name is Sally. Not that I know you at all," she put up her hands at his sudden scowl, "but at least they might leave you alone. You ought to do me the same courtesy in case I have to answer the same question."

"That is a completely illogical argument," he shook his head. "But you won't go in until I surrender, will you, no matter how cold you obviously are?"

"If that's what it takes," she quirked another smile at him.

"Wufei," he said, looking away. "Now, good evening, stubborn woman."

"Nice to meet you, Wufei," she bobbed her head politely and made her way to the doors to the mess hall. It was only later, as she was unbraiding her hair and curling several blankets around her in her little cabin that she realized not once had the boy ever seemed cold at all. Here in the cabin she could still see her breath from the chill in the air in spite of the hot coals in the brazier.

There was only one way a person could stand without a heavy cloak in the driving wind at sunset this close to the frozen north without at least shivering. Only a firebender or an arctic waterbender would be so comfortable in the cold, and he was no waterbender.

"Huh. You are very interesting, Wufei," she smiled. Then she sobered. "I hope that is as interesting as you get, though. I'd rather not have to kill you."

-==OOO==-

"So, boy, where're we going today?"

The black hawk looked at him, cocking its head to one side as though considering. Then it let out a squawk and launched itself into the sky.

"Hey! Get back here! Deathscythe, you jerk!"

He would have taken off through the streets, but he knew he would stick out worse than usual if he sprinted through the neat byways and gardens. His black clothing was out of place anyway, his long hair at least not so unusual amidst the high-class families and merchants, but he was a stranger here, and practically everyone in Gaoling knew every face by heart. Better not to attract any attention.

So, keeping an eye on his bird, he slipped quietly through the shadows between houses and shops, leaping into the trees when stone gave way to broad tree-lined avenues. The hawk was obviously going somewhere intentionally, not lazing about in the sky or even circling to hunt. He was well out of the city and up a rise before he at last broke cover, just as the black hawk, the yellow streaks in his flight feathers showing as he fanned his wings out, settled down on something beyond the next stand of brush.

"You'd better have a pretty good reason for coming out here, you dumb bird," he grumbled, marching forward.

"He does."

A form stepped out of the brush, the large hawk balanced expertly on his forearm.

"It's nice to meet you, Shinigami."


	7. Bold United Souls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Turn back or be destroyed," a voice ordered angrily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one is a bit late!
> 
> Also, someone entered my soundtrack contest on the last chapter. Results at the end. Keep it up!
> 
> Enjoy!

North Point was a busy harbor, filled with metal ships and many people. It was the best place for overland trade to connect with vessels that would continue on to the North Pole, and it was in the shadow of the peak of what had once been the Northern Air Temple, now the home of the Mechanists. These were the tinkerers and builders, crafters of technological wonders, all contained within their Temple and virtually never shared with the outside world since the end of The Fire Lord's War nearly two hundred years prior. Theirs was a mysterious secret society, aloof and separate like the Temple they called their home.

The village of North Point was a hub of activity at all times of the day and night, enhanced by the seemingly endless sounds of metal screeching and clanging as it echoed down through the valley from the Temple above. In all the moving of supplies between ships, the merchants set up to sell the very few new gadgets from up the mountain to the travelers who might be passing through, and the nearly-endless stream of people from every origin passing through the village, who was to notice a few more? Especially when they arrived in disguise and only revealed their true nature when well away from the town.

Under the cover of darkness, several dozen fighters, dressed in black, their faces concealed, crept beyond the watchtowers at the base of the mountain and began the climb. The Northern Air Temple had once been totally inaccessible from the ground, but generations gone by had built stairs and paths up, and these now served those with malice in their hearts quite well.

The lead attacker, identified by a black helmet with a distinctive spike decoration, signaled for stillness as they crossed onto the broad bridge that spanned the last gap in the mountainous crags and came within view of the main gates of the Temple. He raised his arm to command them forward when a sudden blaze of light caused him to pause.

"Turn back or be destroyed," a voice ordered angrily. Between the column of fighters and the gates of the Temple a lone figure stood, wearing a mask of the Sun Warriors. A white cloak whipped about his shoulders in the wind, and his upraised hand held a bright flare of fire.

"For the Order!" the leader shouted, beginning the charge.

Behind his mask, Wufei sneered. "If that is your choice, so be it!"

Flame in one hand, a sword in the other, Wufei threw himself at the lead opponent, the commander, and attacked. For all that the black-clad leader was also a firebender, he seemed surprised to find himself confronted with the ferocity of Wufei's charge. Wufei didn't even bother with defeating him – rather, he simply blasted him off the narrow pathway with a fireball, leaving the man to die from the fall or save himself if he had the strength to firebend his momentum to safety. Then he turned to the remaining masked fighters.

"This is your final warning," he growled.

From somewhere towards the back of the crowd, a cry went up. Wufei's eyebrows rose to see several of the men fighting amongst themselves. He shook his head in disgust.

"You are pathetic!" he roared, throwing himself at them with fire and blade extended. "If you cannot even face one warrior, you do not deserve to fight at all!"

The battle passed as a blur. There were firebenders, earthbenders, and even a few waterbenders in the crowd, but mostly they were non-benders armed with spears and swords. Wufei danced among them, cutting them down or casting them aside, heedless of the blood he spilled or the burns he left behind. He was ruthless, and more than a few of the black-clad warriors found themselves frozen as they watched him take down their companions in a blaze of speed and skill.

But in time, they gathered their courage and charged him in one mass, their odds much better if they overwhelmed him than if they tried to defeat him one at a time. An earthbender managed to avoid notice long enough to wrap stone around Wufei's legs to his knees, pulling him into the earthen bridge.

Wufei fought against the pull, but his arms were dragged down until he was half-buried in solid stone, only his head and shoulders still free. If not for the fact that the bridge was thicker than a two-storied house, his feet would have been dangling in midair below. He looked up fearlessly, facing the multitudes with fury.

"You are all dishonorable ratdogs!" he shouted at them.

One soldier lifted a hefty blade and made to strike.

Only to be blown off his feet.

Wufei turned sharply to see a form dressed exactly like the others – all in black, dark armor glinting in the pale light of the stars – but behind the black cloth tied over the bottom of the face, he could make out a different shape. As he watched, the cloth fell away, leaving a blank, expressionless mask. The helmet was also tossed to one side.

"Where'd he come from?" one of the others demanded, turning to the unknown figure.

The masked airbender gave them no opportunity to reply, instead sweeping forward to draw an enormous gust of wind upwards, pushing the full compliment of fighters back from the firebender they had encased in stone, and not a few of them went off the bridge completely. He ran forward lightly until he was at Wufei's side.

"Don't move," he said in a low voice.

Trowa gathered himself, breathing the clear air of the sky, and reading in it the frenzied actions of the rest of their opponents trying to scramble back to some kind of formation (and rescue those who had fallen if there was anyone quick enough to grab onto something). He was not an earthbender, but he had developed a trick of his own to deal with them.

He put his hands on either side of the firebender's body, thumbs against his pinned arms and palms down on the ground itself, forcing his mind to ignore the closeness, the heat and smoke he could smell that radiated from the firebender, the strangeness of their situation. Their foreheads were nearly touching, and the firebender was demanding answers, but Trowa ignored him. He had to focus. Yes – he could sense the tiny pocket of air between the rock below and the person embedded in it, just a sliver, less than the eye could see in some places, even. It was enough.

With a great push, he shoved more air into the sliver of a crack and blew apart the ground, leaving a wide crater deeper than his own height in the stone bridge, freeing the firebender and scattering chunks of the pathway in all directions.

The firebender took the blast of air in stride, turning his sudden upward momentum into an excuse to fall upon the remaining attackers as a fireball. Below him, the airbender continued throwing the black-clad force from the narrow path, easily dodging their attacks as though a leaf on the wind.

As he landed, however, Wufei noticed something and shouted. "Look out!"

The airbender turned in time that the dagger, thrown by someone already falling down the mountainside, merely cut along his abdomen rather than embedding itself there. The airbender hissed in pain, turning the hiss into a torrent of wind that cleared all but Wufei from the immediate area.

"Thanks," he said. He pressed one hand against the blood that had begun to drip.

"My debt is repaid for your assistance," Wufei answered, stepping up. He studied the mask across from him, rapidly reaching the only logical conclusion. "You are of the Order."

"I am No-Name," the airbender replied.

"You must have a name," Wufei countered, eyes narrowing. "Names give us our place, even if the others don't think so and insist on giving us these foolish codes instead."

"Then call me Trowa."

"The Order calls me Nataku, but I am Wufei," he replied. A sudden sound, and the two moved back-to-back as if they had fought together their whole lives. "And these cowards are not done yet."

"But they will be," Trowa replied with a wryness in his voice. "We only need to give them a better reason to fear us."

Wufei smiled in spite of himself, reading the plan as clearly as if it had been spoken aloud. He began to move his arms in broad strokes before him, creating waves of flame and cycling it around them in a ring. Behind him, Trowa was nearly mirroring his actions, fueling the fire with racing air and shaping the ring into a vortex of both their powers combined.

They could feel it, a harmony of purpose.

Together, they lifted their hands and drew the cyclone up and closed it into a broad sphere. Then, with no signal but the rightness of it, they blasted outwards.

Fire and air exploded like a starburst, lighting up the entire mountaintop. Those who had not already fallen or died in the battle burned even as they were ripped from the ground and thrown into the sky. In moments, the only ones left standing were the two masked figures.

Wufei turned first, eyes glancing to Trowa's injured side. "You will be vulnerable if you are hurt."

"The mission does not account for time to rest," Trowa replied. "Especially now." He nodded significantly to where their fight had drawn out the Mechanists, who were opening their gate and coming to investigate. Even if they had prevented an attack on the Mechanist base, they were hardly welcome among their number. The Mechanists had never really approved of the Order and had no members in it.

"Blast the mission then," Wufei scowled, pulling Trowa's uninjured side against him and putting an arm across his back. "It is not dishonorable to be whole before your next battle."

Trowa huffed a laugh. He cinched his arm around Wufei's shoulders and took a deep breath. As one, they began running for the path down the mountain and away from the Mechanists. But at the first set of stairs, Trowa jumped, pushing air beneath him as he did. Wufei tightened his hold, adding a tiny jet of flame to stabilize himself as Trowa controlled their fall through space to the dark, forest-covered valley below.

-==OOO==-

"Who are you and how do you know about Shinigami?"

"Deathscythe knows me," the masked figure replied. The late afternoon sun glinted off the visage of the Blue Spirit, worked in colorless metal. "I'm one of you."

"Deathscythe, you traitor," the braided young man grumbled. Then he shifted into a defensive posture. "But why should I believe you? How can you prove you're part of this and not part of the other side?"

"History is an endless waltz," the masked figure intoned. "An unending dance of peace, rebellion, and war."

"What three can destroy, five can repair," he replied in surprise. "Okay, so you know the codes and phrases. You could still be a spy, though."

"But I'm not," he stepped forward. Deathscythe hopped up his arm to his shoulder, leaving his hands free. He moved slowly, lifting the mask to reveal sun-gold hair, a pale face, and blue-green eyes. "I'm Quatre Raberba. I'm the one they call Spirit."

Something in the earnestness of the gaze made the wary bender want to believe. That, and he'd never ever seen Deathscythe take to anyone before, and here he was practically cuddling into the yellow hair. Hawks _don't_ cuddle. He relaxed his stance.

"I'm Duo," he found himself saying. "I run and hide, but I never tell a lie." Then he smiled. "Pretty clever of you to make friends with my hawk. I take it you got orders to find me?"

"Something like that," Quatre replied. "You heard about the magistrate?"

"Yeah, corrupt old dude. Gaoling's part of the independent movement, and sold them out to the Earth Kingdom and split."

"Right. A group of our opponents are on their way here to take control."

"We'd better go give them a good welcome then," Duo quipped. Quatre smiled brightly. Deathscythe gave a cantankerous chirp, and they both laughed. "Sorry. That bottomless pit hasn't been fed today."

"It's okay. Mine's hunting, so he'll bring back enough."

"Here," Duo reached out an arm. He made to draw his black hawk onto his shoulder, ignoring the piercing green-blue eyes that watched him carefully. Still, he was close enough to Quatre that he could sense his heartbeat, feel the thrum of his pulse in the slim body. He could feel his own heart speed up in response.

Deathscythe obediently moved to his arm, and Duo turned away quickly.

"Come on," Quatre said as though nothing had happened. "We've got to hurry if we want to intercept them before they get to the city."

Duo nodded and found himself falling into step beside the stranger. _New ally_ , he corrected himself. As they walked, Quatre elaborated on the orders they had both received, detailing the route being taken by their enemies, their numbers, and their primary target in the force they were intercepting – a non-bender who was part of the Earth King's Council while also being of the Order of the Black Lotus, and certainly too much a danger to let escape. He would be well-guarded, but by only a dozen troops, and none of them benders, either.

"How do you know all this?" Duo eventually asked. Quatre shrugged, looking so innocent Duo knew it was a front.

"I just know how to listen."

"Yeah, and I'm actually the Fire Lord," he replied, grinning. "You're...pretty well placed in the Order, aren't you?"

"You could say that," Quatre replied evasively. Duo intended to press more, but Quatre held a hand up, creeping around a large boulder. "There."

Below, on a shady road not far from Gaoling, the soldiers rode, their noble commander protectively in the center.

"Got any ideas?" Duo asked, stretching his muscles and drawing a dagger while he shrugged Deathscythe to a nearby perch.

"As a matter of fact," Quatre replied, eyes alive with a spark of something dangerous, "yes, I do. Can you take the entire left flank by yourself?"

"Count on it," Duo smiled with a wicked light.

"See you down there, then," Quatre nodded as he pulled out his mask again and affixed it. He moved off to one side and walked calmly down the grassy hill until he came out on the road before the approaching force. Duo used the surprise of the group as they pulled to a stop to slip around behind, donning his own mask as well.

"Halt! Who are you and how dare you bar our path?" one of the soldiers yelled, raising a spear and pointing it at the masked individual who had appeared out of nowhere.

"You can't be allowed to do what you've come here to do," Quatre replied. He reached beneath the long, light-brown cloak he wore to draw two curved blades. "Turn back or I'm going to make sure you don't cause any more harm."

"Men, attack!"

As Duo crept up the road behind the men, he had to admire Quatre's skill. The bright-haired young man had swung directly into battle, slashing with both blades as though they were extensions of himself. He seemed to know exactly where to be and where not to be as he dodged the soldiers easily. But Duo had work of his own to do.

He had cut down three of the soldiers in perfect silence before anyone even thought to turn around, and the sight of the unagi mask caused a few more soldiers to freeze for an instant, giving him easy access to strike before they became a threat.

"Sir, you must escape!" one of the soldiers shouted, even as he fell beneath Duo's blade.

"Shinigami!" Quatre shouted. Duo looked up to see their target kick his ostrich-horse and take off up the path. Quatre cut down the last of the soldiers and looked after their fleeing target. "We've got to stop him!"

"Okay, I can do something about this, but you gotta promise not to panic. Hear me?" Duo said, words sharp and intent.

"I won't panic," Quatre replied solidly, moving to his side.

"Here goes, then."

Duo eyed their target for one last moment. Then he stretched his right arm straight out in front of him, pushing back his sleeve. With the speed of a striking serpent, he jammed the first two fingers of his left hand into two or three different places on the outstretched arm. At once, the pale skin began to darken as though swelling from within.

But when Duo raised the flushed right hand and jerked his fingers, their target rocked in his saddle as though struck by lightning.

The ostrich-horse reared, toppling over on itself and its rider, before getting to its feet and running away. The nobleman tried to rise, but found himself frozen in a strained crouch. He let out an anguished croak.

"You're…bloodbending," Quatre's voice was breathless with surprise. "But how? It's not even nighttime, let alone a full moon."

"If you change the energy in your body," Duo replied, never taking his eyes from their target, "it changes your bending. Technically I'm a waterbender. But I can concentrate all my bending energy into bloodbending by adjusting my chi."

"But, your arm…" Quatre trailed off. The skin was now angrily flushed and red with dark streaks like cracks in an eerie pattern, and the joints of the hand were wide and swollen, as though badly infected.

"Everything in balance, right?" he asked wryly, gesturing with the blood-filled hand and causing the target to go down, limp and still. "If you want power, you gotta give something else up in return."

Satisfied that his work was done, Duo jabbed his left hand into his right shoulder, twisting the flesh and muscle roughly. Almost at once, the swelling began to decrease visibly. He ripped off his mask and gulped air.

"I can only do it for so long," he explained, "and when it's too much, I have to stop or I could really hurt myself. And after I do it I can't bloodbend again for a while. Sol—somebody described it like a well fed from an underground river. It'll always be full as long as the river is flowing, but if you drain the well to get a whole lot of water all at once, it'll take time for the river to replace what you took." He shook his arm, still dark and mottled in color, but much less puffy. "Even if I were a good waterbender, and I'm not, I can't do any kind of bending at all after I use that technique too much. I gotta let the chi in my body build back up. But it's a useful skill in our line of work."

"Duo," Quatre said softly, pulling off his own mask. Violet eyes met a blue-green, and unexpectedly sad, gaze. "I may not be a bender myself, but I'm sure you could be a good waterbender. However, your way of forcing yourself to bloodbend without a full moon is burning your gift right out of you, maybe even ruining your potential. You're sacrificing the future of what you could be for the sake of the war we're fighting."

"Don't tell me it's terrible, 'cause I already know that," Duo replied tensely. He moved down the path to look at their fallen target, kicking him just to be sure he was really dead. "But it keeps me alive. And maybe if people stop being so stupid, maybe someday I can lean real waterbending and do that instead of this."

"I'm sure you can. Only powerful waterbenders can bloodbend, at least in the traditional way."

"If this fighting ends, I'll never bloodbend again," Duo said with sudden passion. "I hate it. I can feel other people's blood and it's like a twitch inside my skin. I can feel the heartbeat, the flood of terror, all of it. We have to end this fighting because I don't ever want to feel this when we're done."

He eyed Quatre, saw the slight look of concern, and forced himself to smile. "Hey, be happy at least you're not a bender. For all the nifty stuff, it's really not all it's cracked up to be."

Quatre managed a smile in return, brittle but warm. "I believe you."

-==OOO==-

General Zechs longed to rub his temples, but that would mean removing his signature mask, so he sighed deeply instead. His eyes ached and his head pounded, and yet there were still more parchments and messages and scrolls piled before him in an unending mess. He'd been up for two full days, and yet there was even more to do than there had been before he'd started.

And he felt the pang of it every time he opened a scroll or unfolded a message penned in his father's familiar handwriting.

But publicly Zechs was nothing more to Darlian than an ally and political friend, so he could not let himself show even the slightest reaction to the Chancellor's death or to his last written words that might be out of the character Zechs had crafted for himself. The situation was deteriorating rapidly, and Zechs could not allow himself to lose even the slightest amount of face or influence or trust if he wished to keep up his father's work. The Lightning Count's only advantage now was his secret – and Relena's. If not for his own sake, he could keep up the ruse for hers. Relena would be in enough danger once she reached Republic City and claimed her place; he would not betray her preemptively.

But if these reports and transcripts piled up any farther, Zechs might miss her announcement entirely, even knowing it was at least two or three weeks away, depending on how fast she and Noin were traveling. There was just so much to go through, and he trusted no one with it but himself. He would have trusted Noin, of course, but she was with Relena.

The attack on Darlian could only have been arranged by someone on the Council, someone close enough to the Chancellor, and by extension the Earth King, to know on which night Darlian would be outside the innermost ring of Ba Sing Se, away from the security of the palace. It could only have come from someone dangerously nearby. Someone powerful, influential, and now, a traitor.

And Zechs _would find him_.

He was just unrolling another intelligence report, one by a soldier he had trained himself and whose words he typically trusted, when a shout echoed through the corridor beyond. In one movement, Zechs was on his feet, rushing to his door and flinging it open. It was just before dawn, and even the extra soldiers on duty after Darlian's assassination were at their weakest at the end of an overnight shift that left them only fairly alert.

It was the perfect time for an attack.

Zechs followed the unmistakable sounds of a battle through the broad hallway, his face creasing as he approached the doors that led to the Earth King's private wing. But the fight was to the left instead, down where some other agents of the government had their own private offices. He rounded the corner at a dead run and emerged into chaos.

Six guards were down, and four more were in the process of being smashed into the walls with what could only be portions of the floor, ripped up by earthbending. In the center stood a figure Zechs recognized with fury – the masked attacker from before.

Without a sound, he launched into battle, just in time to deflect a sharp section of stone that would have been the death of one of his men. The unknown earthbender turned to him slowly, his warrior's mask hiding any expression. They spent a tiny moment in stillness, each regarding the other from behind a mask, until Zechs ended the stalemate with a frontal attack. He kicked a section of the damaged floor at his opponent, following it up with a crush from the walls on either side, and leaping forward even as he drew his long, silvery blade from its customary place at his hip.

The unknown earthbender dodged the first attack and redirected the second, raising an armored forearm to catch the blade. Almost quicker than Zechs could follow with his eyes, the block turned into a punch, and as the fist connected with his jaw he felt the stone beneath his feet shifting, too. He managed to turn his backwards momentum into a roll, evading the crush from below. But he knew something the earthbender before him couldn't possibly know, and he smiled in satisfaction.

Zechs didn't even bother standing up – he just dug his fingers into the stone floor and _pulled_.

Metal chains, added secretly to all stonework near the Earth King's chambers for this very reason, rose out of the broken floor. The chains had been wrapped in a thin layer of wood, but the attack against Zechs had splintered their casing, opening Zech's sense to them. The unknown earthbender might have been aware of _something_ strange in the floor, but the sheer amount of gold decorating the tiles and walls and doorways and the ceiling above tended to blur even an exceptional bender's ability to read the earth clearly. The chains were technically not in the floor at all, but lodged carefully just above the gilded ceiling a level down.

One single crack in the casing and Zechs, knowing what to look for, was able to take command of them. He twined them about the masked earthbender cinching his arms down and breaking his root to the ground. A gesture from Zechs and his opponent hung suspended, chains squeezing so tightly they drew blood in a few places.

A moment later, the hallway was filled with soldiers. Zechs privately decided the men in this group needed more drilling if this was the speed with which they reacted to an incursion in the palace.

"Kill me," the masked earthbender spoke for the first time in a flat tone. Zechs rose smoothly, taking a specially-made set of wooden manacles from one of the newly-arrived guards. They were long tubes, with hollow spheres at one end which could be closed about a bender's fists, locking their arms together elbow-to-wrist and enclosing their hands completely. They had to be tied with leather straps, but they were nearly impossible for an earthbender to bend through.

"I won't," Zechs replied, "until we learn everything we need from you."

"Kill me now, or when I escape I will kill you."

Zechs reached forward and lifted the mask from the form before him, and though he was shocked at the young age of the boy before him, the focus and intensity of his eyes, he did not show it. Instead, with dozens of armed guards standing at the ready, he manipulated the restraining chains until he could get the boy's arms secured. One of the soldiers stepped forward with another thick leather cord, which Zechs fashioned into a noose and slipped over the boy's head.

"Fight us and you'll never breathe again," he menaced. "Take him to the most secure cell in the palace," Zechs ordered, "and mount a double guard day and night."

He was turning back to the boy when he realized the boy's face was pinched and his lips were becoming pale. A moment later, the intruder dropped in a dead faint, and it was only because of Zech's quick reflexes that he didn't tighten the noose when the boy went down. Only then could he see against the dark clothing a splash of blood that was growing by the second. Zechs tore at the cloth to find a large splinter of stone embedded in the boy's shoulder.

"Secure him first, then get a healer," he amended. "We'll interrogate him after we patch him up."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> So, we've had a partial winner for identifying songs that makes up the chapter titles and therefore the soundtrack of this fic! Raenyx of ff.net, you are half correct in your guesses. Two of the four songs at the base of this story are "Seven Devils" by Florence & The Machine and "Remember the Name" by Fort Minor. Nice work! That earns you 2 requests for oneshots after the end of this story.
> 
> There are two songs left to identify. I'm going to give you this friendly warning – of those two songs, one is extremely obscure. No, seriously, extremely. It's obscure enough that, at the time I published the first few chapters of this song, nobody had even put its lyrics online. If nobody gets it by the end, I won't be totally surprised. But don't let that stop you from trying!
> 
> Also, lastly, one of my all-time favorite AMVs for A:TLA is to "Remember the Name" which is how I came upon that song. It's up on YouTube by the user periwinklerocks95. Check it out!
> 
> Until next week!


	8. In the Firing Line

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> War wasn't so bad if he got perks like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, a couple of notes on the soundtrack at the end, but that's about it.
> 
> Enjoy!

Duo looked around the tent before flopping back on the brocade pillow with a contented sigh. War wasn't so bad if he got perks like _this_.

When he and Quatre had finished their mission at Gaoling, the non-bender had invited Duo to join him with his allies to recover while they awaited their next mission. Duo had been skeptical at first because as far as he knew, the masked fighters like themselves – five in all – were supposed to work alone. That was the whole point as he understood it, to have them as secret, solitary weapons who could resolve a situation without any kind of backup. But Quatre had explained that these allies, he called them Maganacs, were a part of the Order and also his friends.

What he didn't mention was they were a band of forty or fifty men of the desert who treated Quatre and anybody Quatre liked as if he were a prince. Thus the tent, the thick, comfortable bedding, and a ton of food Duo had been enjoying. But all of that paled to something else Quatre showed him, something the Maganacs echoed – real generosity. There were two packs at the tent-flap, stocked with supplies and maps and even money, all his now.

"You never know who you can trust out there," Quatre had shrugged when he'd handed them over. "You'll be safer if you don't have to rely on anyone or if you don't have to steal food."

"I can't take this from you," Duo had protested. Quatre had smiled warmly.

"You're not taking it. I'm giving it to you. You aren't putting us in danger by sharing in what we have in plenty."

At that moment, Duo had decided that Quatre was one of those rare things he could honestly say he'd only had once – a friend. Not just a guy you bid good morning when you pass them in the street; Quatre was a friend he could trust. Everything about him screamed that Duo was safe at his side, was welcome there even.

For an orphan who'd spent most of his life fighting to survive alone on the street, it was a heady feeling.

So he'd accepted Quatre's kindness and the friendliness of the Maganacs while they waited in the dusty low hills of the southwestern Earth Kingdom for new orders. It had been a nice, easy week of rest and, to be honest, Duo had enjoyed every minute of it.

"Duo!" Quatre's voice woke him from his musings and he sat up just as Quatre ducked through the tent-flap. "They're back!"

The bloodbender scrambled to his feet and followed his friend out into the sunlight where he could see the familiar form of Deathscythe approaching. From the same direction, a little behind, was Quatre's hawk, Sandrock, and about six more. He was going to ask about them, but Deathscythe arrived first, dropping onto his shoulder.

"Hey buddy," he greeted the hawk. "Get lost?"

Deathscythe's beak snapped shut a hair from his nose.

"Whatcha got for me, then?" Duo smiled, unfazed. He noted one of the Maganacs approaching with some fresh slivers of meat, which he fed to the hawk while Duo pulled out the message. He read quickly. "Quatre!"

"I know," Quatre looked up to meet his eyes. "I got word, too." He held up a fistful of messages from the seven birds, including Sandrock.

"How many contacts in the Order do you have, anyway?" Duo asked in surprise.

"Quite a few," Quatre replied, "but not nearly enough or we would have known sooner."

"So, what are we gonna do?"

Quatre held perfectly still for a moment, thinking quick as lightning. He shuffled through his papers one more time before looking up, and suddenly his bright eyes looked years older and wiser. The Maganacs had gathered around when the hawks arrived, more than a few serving as perches, and at his look they fell silent.

"Duo, you go to Ba Sing Se. You'll have the best chance of handling that situation. Rashid," he turned to the enormous man, "It's time to go to Republic City. Prepare to leave at first light tomorrow."

"Yes, Master Quatre." At his curt bow, the Maganacs scattered to their duties, leaving just Quatre and Duo, each still holding their hawks.

"Why Republic City, Cat?" Duo asked.

"Duo, do you trust me?"

Duo met his eyes unflinchingly. How was it that he could have known this yellow-haired non-bender for less than two weeks and yet he could answer "Yes, I do" with total confidence?

"Darlian's death was bad enough," Quatre said, stroking Sandrock idly, "but the mobilization of the Fire Nation navy is something else entirely. General Treize is hunting down whoever attacked in the Fire Nation, but he can't know that was one of us, so instead he'll go after the independent forces. Meanwhile, the Earth King's martial law restrictions are only getting more stringent. And now they have Soldier trapped as well."

He let out a breath and started to pace, speaking faster and faster. Sandrock, obviously accustomed to this, simply perched on his shoulder and fluffed his tail at the bouncing.

"My information isn't very specific, but it suggests that the power vacuum in Republic City is about to change dramatically. If I were our enemies, I would want to make certain that whoever stepped into the Chairman's position was part of the war effort, and not someone who could rally the world towards a peaceful cause. With so many moving military parts, it's too easy for the other Order to dispatch someone to start an incident and prompt an even greater war of nation against nation, or else to gain possession of Republic City's power and resources. We have to be in place to prevent both those things."

"Wait," Duo held up a hand. "I'd rather avoid an unnecessary fight too, but isn't that why we're doing what we're doing? To liberate the independents from the Old Fogeys? I get how a fake fight won't do us any good, but we're gonna have to have a full-out war at some point. Why not start it now?"

Quatre stopped and looked at him sharply. "We're fighting for a lot more than the independents, Duo," he said, frowning. "Our Order isn't on either side of that conflict, except by necessity. We're against the Order of the Black Lotus, and anything they want, we have to stop."

"But why? What do they want, if not war to defeat the independents?"

Quatre smiled grimly. "They're trying to crack the very world apart."

-==OOO==-

Wufei woke with a start, bringing himself to full alertness before he'd even opened his eyes. He looked automatically to where the airbender Trowa should have been standing watch.

Instead, Shenlong blinked at him in the morning light.

Wufei frowned as he threw aside the bedroll and got to his feet. The camp looked as he'd seen it when he'd switched watch with Trowa in the middle of the night, minus one airbender and his few belongings. They had been moving south for a few days, taking it slow while Trowa's injured side healed. They'd also taken turns sending their hawks off to see if there were new orders waiting, while they hiked through the mountains towards the broader flat plains of the northern Earth Kingdom.

Wufei's temper began to rise. How could that airbender have just taken off in the night like that?

But the next moment he spotted a message in Shenlong's carrier. He drew it out and read the note twice:

_I've received my orders and must leave immediately. I apologize for not saying goodbye, but then, what would you have me say? I will see you again. Yell at me then if you wish. No-Name_

"Trowa…" Wufei growled. Oh, he would take Trowa up on the offer to yell at him when next they met without a doubt. How _dare_ he? Not only had he left during his watch, which was dishonorable to begin with, but he'd left this excuse for a goodbye letter and signed it No-Name instead of with his real name. As if Trowa wanted to pretend they were merely warriors temporarily sharing quarters.

"But what are you other than that?" whispered the tiny conscience of Wufei's mind that always sounded suspiciously like _her_. "After all, you patched him up, but other than that you barely spoke to one another. Even if you did let him watch your back while you slept, and you haven't let anyone do that before, _ever_."

"He's part of this fight," Wufei said aloud, not caring if Shenlong heard him talking to himself. It wouldn't be the first time. "He's part of the path I have chosen. That makes him much more than nothing."

"A friend?" the voice teased.

Wufei snorted and set about packing up his own belongings. He may not have received any new messages, but he had a course of action he could follow now that he was again on his own. And if he was avoiding answering that question, well, it was inside his head and a man was permitted to ignore himself, wasn't he?

As he set off, turning west instead of south now, Wufei cast Shenlong into the sky. He supposed the hawk could have searched out Trowa, as these messenger hawks were amazingly good at locating anyone they recognized, but he decided to leave it. If Trowa wished to reach him, he'd send that fire-colored hawk Heavyarms for Wufei instead.

But Shenlong needed to do his rounds to find out if there was new information for Wufei while he followed up on his own. There was something in those black-clad benders who had attacked the Mechanists that was familiar, familiar and unsettling. Wufei would not miss his opportunity if it came up, but he was not willing to compromise his time on misinformation, either, and he wasn't that far from a source he knew he could trust to provide him with unique insight into things.

Neither he nor Trowa had spoken of remorse for their actions on the bridge and the more than a few lives they had taken, but it was clear enough without words. As far as Wufei knew, their opponents had simply been acting on orders like good soldiers. It wasn't necessarily their fault that those who commanded them were dishonorable and foolish. But holding back in a fight was dishonorable, too. As far as Wufei was concerned, if someone challenged him, he would end the combat by any means necessary, no matter the reason for the challenge.

But when he found those who gave the orders, those who commanded the soldiers to go to their deaths against him, Wufei would take his vengeance for a thousand pains, his and others', without fail.

The Order of the Black Lotus would fall at his hands, or he would die in the attempt.

In the next village, Wufei purchased an ostrich-horse, which he pushed to its best sustainable speed. He couldn't have said why, but he sensed that there was more urgency than he knew for his errand. It was two more days before he and the tired beast at last came to a stop outside a small, isolated house half a day from the nearest settlement.

Just as Wufei was about to knock at the door, Shenlong appeared at last. The hawk was not content to wait for his reward and was being rather noisy about it, so Wufei returned to the ostrich-horse for a portion of dried meat. While the hawk ate eagerly, he unrolled the message Shenlong had carried.

"You shouldn't be here."

The voice caught him by surprise as he hadn't heard the door open, but he covered the expression at once. "Nor should you," Wufei replied. He put the unread message in a pocket of his saddlebag and bowed low. "But for as long as you insist on living so far from all else, I will make my way to whatever home you have claimed, uncle."

"Not many could find an old man who did not want to be found."

"Not many have been taught to find that which is hidden to all others by one who has known wisdom," Wufei said. "If you wished not to be found, you ought never to have taught me your tricks."

"It is good to see you, child." The man's hair was snow-white, his face dark and lined, and his black eyes were sharp. "But I shall move house again if you do not cease your unannounced visits, nephew."

Wufei, smiling and relaxing as he never permitted himself anymore, was beginning to step forward when Shenlong threw his head up and screamed a warning.

Everything happened too quickly after that. A dozen black-clad warriors appeared from the surrounding trees and rocks, and there was a blast of fire and earth. Wufei was knocked back into his ostrich-horse, though he came up prepared to fight.

" _NO_!"

He was moving without thought, flinging fire about him fueled by pure rage. But even he had to skid to a halt at the inferno that had been his uncle's house. And there…in the flickering…charred but recognizable and horribly familiar...

" _COWARDS_!" he bellowed his fury as his heart tore free of its moorings awash in pain. " _I WILL KILL YOU ALL_!"

Four of the attackers fell in his first wave of fire. The rest fled through the trees, Wufei racing after them with flame jetting him forward at amazing speeds. But even he could not keep up when the remaining soldiers reached a set of waiting eelhounds. Wufei killed two more before their mounts raced out of range.

Seething, shaking, blinded by loss and an anger so potent it choked him, he sank to his knees beside the body of one of the earthbenders he had managed to eliminate. His hands moved of their own accord, searching the body almost automatically.

And his trembling fingers closed on a single pai sho tile.

Wufei drew up out of his grief enough to examine it. It was black, the symbol of his enemies. And it was a particular tile, one never used outside Republic City, where the game had taken an unusual deviation in the last two generations.

He had learned the game at that man's knee, long ago, and all its regional variations. That man who was still burning to ashes even now, the man who had been nothing but a source of wisdom and patience and perspective. And now Wufei had brought him death for no reason other than a hunch and his own stubborn pride.

The firebender squeezed the tile until its wooden corners bit into his palm. He got shakily to his feet and began to move back through the trees to recover his wayward ostrich-horse.

"I _will_ find you in Republic City, you murderers," he growled around a throat closed in shame and pain. "I will find you and I _will_ have justice for my uncle as well as the others. I swear it."

Only Shenlong saw his tears.

-==OOO==-

Zechs looked over his prisoner with a critical eye. The boy had taken a fairly serious wound, but a healer had patched it up enough that he was no longer in danger; still, it would slow him down if he attempted to fight with it. That was assuming he could even break free of the most secure cell in the Earth Kingdom.

It was a room sealed in wood, not a stitch of metal or stone anywhere within. The boy was restrained, tied down to a sturdy wooden table with each arm and leg enclosed in wooden manacles that were bound with a double-layer of thick leather.

The boy appeared to be awake, but no matter what Zechs said or threatened or offered he never so much as shifted the intensely blue eyes to look at him. He'd accepted water when it was given, but not food.

"You're going to die," Zechs told him angrily, realizing how many days had passed. "You're going to die and you won't even tell me why."

But the boy continued to stare at the wooden ceiling with granite stoicism.

Zechs turned away in disgust. "You come here, you begin a war against the Earth Kingdom, and you're going to die just as mysteriously. I hope it is what you wanted."

As he stormed through the door and latched it, he missed the closing of the boy's eyes and the small, satisfied smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we have a new winner for the soundtrack competition! Miranda Shadowind correctly identified the third song in our soundtrack as "We Are One" by 12 Stones. Which is, incidentally, the song set to one of my all-time favorite AMVs for TMNT. Miranda Shadowind, you get to call a oneshot for the series!
> 
> That leaves us with one, the extremely obscure song. When you hear it, though, you'll understand why it is perfect for this story and for Gundam Wing in general. I promise.
> 
> What I forgot to mention last week was that now I really want someone to make an AMV for Gundam Wing to "Remember the Name" by Fort Minor. It's got 6 verses between the choruses in 2 sets of 3. And I think you can correlate each verse with one of the Gundams. Here's how I see it:
> 
> Verse 1 (He doesn't need his name up in lights) = Heero  
> Verse 2 (Who the hell is he anyway?) = Trowa  
> Verse 3 (This is twenty percent skill, eighty percent fear) = Wufei  
> Verse 4 (They call him Ryu the sick and he's spitting fire) = Zechs (and Treize)  
> Verse 5 (He's not your everyday on the block) = Duo  
> Verse 6 (Nobody knows how or why he works so hard) = Quatre
> 
> The problem is that I have absolutely no ability to make AMVs! If you know anybody who does AMVs, get this one made! And I'll write anything you ask of me if, when you do, you get the video-person to put Wufei sitting next to Sally at the line in his verse "I heard he's f-ing with S-dot." Because, seriously!


	9. Vows Upon My Chest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was no telling how many lives might hang on the balance of her decisions now. No telling what world might rise from the ashes of a war or survive a brush with brother-against-brother fighting.
> 
> Relena thought of Heero and his role in things and felt far less alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry, you guys. This past weekend was my 4-day retreat/vacation and I basically unplugged from the internet for the whole of it. Other than a few emails, I pretty much walked away. And it was good. I distinctly needed it. However, I forgot to post a chapter and the really exciting news to go with it! To make up for it, here's 2 chapters today and another this weekend as usual.
> 
> But here's the awesome news! Miranda Shadowind made me fanart! It's the very first ever fanart anyone has ever drawn for me! It comes from Part 2 (Chapter 3). won't allow me to post a direct link, but you can find it at her DA profile page: miranda-shadowind.deviantart. com. I've also added it where it goes in the story.
> 
> Anyway, here's two more for you. Enjoy!

Relena tipped her head back to squint at the sunlight that streamed between the thick leaves of the trees overhead. The wind blew softly and for moment she felt a deep sense of peace and contentment wash through her. The forest was quiet, only the sounds of the ostrich-horses on the vague trail and the chirping of the birds sounding against the breeze.

"It's nice to be here," she said, feeling reality creep back into her mind even as she spoke.

"Yes it is," Noin answered kindly. "I've been in every major city and most of the big towns in the world, and I never like them nearly as well as just being out in the wild places."

Relena turned to look at Noin, who, indeed, was smiling serenely, calm and open. It was a welcome change from the fierce protectiveness of the first few days of their trip. Even without Relena mentioning her midnight visit from the earthbender Heero, Noin had jumped at every sound, taking her responsibility for Relena's safety to towering heights of worry and watchfulness. But now, days out of Ba Sing Se, hours from the main roads, here she had finally relaxed.

Relena began to understand why Noin had insisted they travel anonymously and far from the common ways between the cities. Noin was a talented earthbender, and while she walked beside the ostrich-horse, she could sense virtually everything in their surroundings. Barring an assault from above, which seemed unlikely given the thickness of the forest canopy above, there was no one who could sneak up on them here. It made their journey slower but decidedly safer. And, as Relena considered the whirlwind speed with which they had practically sprinted through the outlying lands of Ba Sing Se, a speed she expected to resume once they reached the areas nearest Republic City, taking it slowly in between seemed fair.

"If you don't mind my asking," Relena said, feeling at last that the tension draining away from Noin might give her an opening for her curiosity, "why do you travel so much? I mean, you and my brother…"

Noin looked at her sharply before nodding – the chances to speak openly about the masked general were few and far between, but if anyplace was safe deep in a forest in the middle of nowhere was probably the right choice. Still, she paused momentarily to feel the earth beneath her feet to confirm their isolation before continuing to walk between where Relena rode and the two ostrich-horses, loaded with their supplies.

"Zechs travels too, when he can," Noin answered. "For all he's spent most of his life in one city or another, he's as free-spirited as an Air Nomad when he gets the chance. Always wants to be everywhere at once."

"But his duties keep him near the Earth King," Relena finished, understanding. "And yours don't."

"Exactly. There's not many people Zechs really trusts – just me, a handful of his trained men, and a few allies from the other nations. So when he needs information or has to send a message he can't risk being intercepted, he usually sends me."

"Allies in other nations?"

"You must always know where you stand with your enemies. Sometimes it is useful to count a friend among the leaders of your opponents. And besides," Noin smiled darkly, "there are people in every nation who don't want a war. Even if we have to go up against them in the end, when peace comes, we know who will embrace it with us. You'll need allies of your own in the Fire Nation and the Water Tribes as well as Republic City and the independent forces before long."

"Who are my brother's friends? Could I trust them?" Relena wanted to know.

"Some of them," Noin allowed. "You'll like Sally when you meet her, I bet. She's a pretty influential Water Tribe healer, and she and I have known each other for years. Our friends in the Fire Nation are trickier. Until they know about your connection to your brother, you probably won't be able to trust them completely, but Treize and Une will give you at least something in the way of an alliance on my say-so."

"Treize? As in the Fire Lord's son?" Relena was surprised. "My brother is friends with Prince Treize?"

"More than that," Noin said. "Treize owes Zechs his life, and he takes that debt very seriously. But he always has his own plans, too, and Zechs doesn't usually like them. Treize may act against us somewhat even if I speak for you for Zechs. But he won't ever betray your brother, and by extension, he won't ever threaten you even if he's crashing the world down around your ears."

"But how did my brother…?" Relena broke off, wondering at what on earth could have happened between the general of the Earth Kingdom and the prince of the Fire Nation. Even in the best of times, the two should never have been more than cautious allies.

Noin grinned. "That's the story I'm supposed to tell you. I guess now's as good a time as any."

> _It had only been a few years since the death of Avatar Yuy. The world was still in absolute chaos between the forces who had murdered the Avatar attacking targets at random, some provinces still clamoring for independence, the people in a panic, and the Old Four scrambling to fill the power vacuum left in the wake of it all. Though battles were becoming more rare as the forces of the Order of the Black Lotus began to scale back in their actions, there were still those who struck against their enemies with deadly force._
> 
> _Noin had been assigned to a small squad of Earth Kingdom soldiers in spite of her age because of her prodigious skill with earthbending. Along with her was Zechs, with whom she had shared many earthbending classes in the last year and a half, and who, it seemed, was well on his way into becoming a commander. They had forged a friendship inasmuch as Zechs ever befriended anybody; he was known to be withdrawn and stoic even during his leisure time. But now they were on the front lines where manpower was spread thinly, and there was no thought of idle conversation for either of them._
> 
> _Their squad was providing security to an envoy from the Fire Nation, escorting them on the last part of their trip across the East Lake to Ba Sing Se. The ferry would leave at sunset, and would have waterbenders as guards for the duration across the lake, but the accommodations set up for the brief wait at the shore was patrolled by the Earth Kingdom forces._
> 
> _The Fire Nation delegation had only just arrived when the attack began._
> 
> _Noin was quickly caught up in battle against black-clad benders as well as soldiers, more of them than there were of the combined Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation guards. She had no time to think, only to react, and soon lost herself in combat. But after an eternity of earthbending she became aware of a breech in the lines, a place through which multiple enemies were rushing to the temporary shelter building in which the Fire Nation diplomats were unprotected. She began to run._
> 
> _When Noin was only a handful of steps from the nearest stone-and-fabric wall, it blew outward in spectacular fashion. A young man in a Fire Nation uniform was throwing fire around in a defensive pattern while the other members of the delegation ran from the building. Noin immediately pulled up a thick wall of earth and shouted to them, even as she began constructing a solid cube in which they could shelter. The unknown firebender nodded at her and focused on protecting them from the rear._
> 
> _Which is why neither of them saw the black-clad firebender until it was too late._
> 
> _The charge of the atmosphere, the crackling sound was the only warning they had. Noin looked up in horror to see one of the attackers cut lightning from the air and blast it forward. She couldn't drop the earthbending in her hands fast enough to intervene._
> 
> _But before the lightning struck the Fire Nation firebender, Zechs was_ there _, interposing himself._
> 
> _Noin remembered that firebenders could sometimes redirect lightning, even those who could not call on it themselves, but that very few other benders ever managed it. Even waterbenders from whom the technique had come usually failed to control and release the energy of the attack, and many had died trying. For an earthbender, it was nearly impossible._
> 
> _There was a bright flash and a stomach-churning smell of charred flesh and then silence._

"So what happened?" Relena shivered in spite of the warm day, forcing herself to relax her painfully tight grip on the ostrich-horse's lead-rope.

"At first, I couldn't tell," Noin said. "The Fire Nation bender who had been saved by your brother unleashed a torrent of fire, killing the firebender who had struck Zechs down, and the rest of the Earth Kingdom soldiers found new strength and finished the fight rather quickly. I wanted to go to him – even then, I was drawn to your brother – but my first responsibility was to the diplomats. I got them all safely in my protective earthworks and then ran to Zechs's side."

Noin's voice had taken on an air of fear and painful remembrance.

"The Fire Nation bender was already leaning over him, calling for a healer. I could see the burns on Zechs's hands from where the lightning had hit him. There were clumps of his hair, it was a bit darker than yours then, actually, but now it was singed and smoking from underneath his mask, and at the slightest touch long handfuls fell out. And the mask itself was blackened."

Relena swallowed tightly as her imagination laid the image of her brother over her father's ruined body. Noin touched her knee gently. Her eyes were understanding, but she continued her story.

"When I came up to them, the firebender was in the process of removing the charred mask. But he'd only just started to lift it upwards when Zechs's hand flew up and wrapped around his wrist to stop him. 'Don't,' he said in a voice that was hoarse but proud. The bender responded, 'I would like to see the face of the one to whom I owe my very life.' Zechs laughed then, though it sounded like a cough, and said 'My face is my own, and I am better served that way. As would you be if you wore one yourself, Prince Treize.' He'd known all along who we were protecting, even though we hadn't. I'd never seen the prince before. I found out much later that Millardo had met the royal family of the Fire Nation years before, and he remembered. Treize didn't recognize him, of course."

Relena smiled as the tension in her stomach began to lessen. "Somehow I'm not surprised that my brother responded to a near-death attack by criticizing the crowned prince of the Fire Nation."

"Neither am I," Noin laughed, "although I was at the time. Anyway, a healer came and attended to his wounds, and over the next day or so the rest of his hair fell out. It was fairly gross, actually, and I don't think he let anybody but me, Treize, and the healer see it. Even with all that, though, he kept his mask on at all times, repairing it himself by feel with metalbending. Treize refused to continue on to the negotiations until Zechs had recovered enough to remain as his guard, and the two of them spent a lot of time over Zech's convalescence just talking. The prince of the Fire Nation has a reputation for calculation and coldness, but he's really very like Zechs under it all."

"So you all became friends?"

"Well," Noin shrugged, "I guess that's what you'd call it. I'm not sure there's a good word for it, though. Zechs and Treize like and respect one another, and they would kill and die for one another. But they can't always trust each other because sometimes they are on opposite sides of the field. Your brother will always put the Earth Kingdom first, even if his true goal is peace. Treize will always put the good of the Fire Nation above even his own father's will. I believe Treize would save Zech's life without a second thought, but he wouldn't necessarily tell him the truth. It's an odd friendship."

"So that's how my brother's hair turned white, then? Being struck by lightning?" Relena said, considering the rest of Noin's words and turning them over in her mind carefully.

"When it finally grew out, yes, it was the way you see it now. And it seems to grow faster, he says. Not that he minds," Noin winked. "I think he likes how unique it makes him. He stands out in any crowd, and people always identify him immediately."

"Which also helps him keep his secret," Relena nodded.

"Yes. Everything your brother does is for more than one purpose. Treize is like that, too. I think that's another reason Zechs sent me with you – not just to protect you and vouch for you in Republic City, but to vouch for you to Treize when the time comes, and to help you understand him. Also because it's more likely you'll meet Une first – she's to Treize what I am to your brother – and she and Zechs have never really gotten along. But she tolerates me pretty well."

"Do you think we'll meet them in Republic City?" Relena began to fidget as her thoughts circled back to their destination and the immanent change to the course of her life.

"Not right away. Last word we had from them, Treize and Une were doing much the same thing Zechs is – looking for whoever was behind those attacks. But when you take your place, you'll have to meet them as envoys for the Fire Nation. The Fire Lord doesn't often leave his palace anymore." Noin turned back to her own thoughts, most of which she did not care to share with her young charge. There was no need to add to Relena's worry with idle speculation about the good faith of the Fire Lord. And Noin had much speculation about it indeed.

"What's going to happen when we arrive?" Relena asked.

"Well," Noin relaxed slightly, glad for the change in topic, "we'll go straight to the Council. I've got a writ from Earth King Noventa that will get us through all the bureaucratic nonsense. Then it's mostly up to you. I can deliver the signed document from both your father and the Earth King that attests to your true identity, but you're the one who will have to convince them. That's the easy part."

"It is?" Relena was incredulous.

"For me, anyway," Noin gave her a rueful smile. "Once they name you Peacecraft of Republic City, that's when the danger really starts for you, and when the real work to patch up the world begins too."

Relena nodded and turned to face the path winding between the trees before her. "It's going to be more than I can even imagine, isn't it?" she asked quietly.

"Yes, it is," Noin said, also looking ahead, face solemn.

Relena closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep, centering breath. Her father had made this last request of her, a request to save a nation that would otherwise fall to chaos and war. And to save it she would have to step into the brewing worldwide conflict as well, not as a child or a young woman, but as an equal to the Earth King and Fire Lord. There was no telling how many lives might hang on the balance of her decisions now. No telling what world might rise from the ashes of a war or survive a brush with brother-against-brother fighting.

She thought of Heero and his role in things and felt far less alone. She straightened her spine and opened her eyes on a path she could not let herself lose.

"I can do it," she said aloud, not in her usual voice, but in an intense and confident one that sounded more like her father's than she would ever have imagined.

_I can do it_ , she thought, _because I must_.

-==OOO==-

Heero relaxed.

Even with several layers of wood between him and the nearest stone, he could still feel the earth below and around him. And as he quieted his mind and heart, the inadvertent fasting aiding him, he could read the earth distantly, muted, but enough.

He could feel the other cells around him and the echoes of guards walking the halls that led back into the palace. He could feel the city that stretched around him in every direction, and if he focused, could pick out groups of people as they went about their lives. He couldn't really pick out individuals at this distance from the earth, but he did not feel the need to either.

Until he read the tremble in the earth that indicated an explosion.

Heero redoubled his listening, feeling the chaos elsewhere in the palace as earth flew apart in several separate, concussive blasts. Now the groups of people virtually all rushed in one of two directions – either towards the attack, or away from it to safety.

All but one.

One individual moved differently, slowly, with a step unique from the other earthbenders in the area. The unknown person seemed to be clinging to doorways and more out-of-the-way passages. A few times other groups rushed along the same route but none interacted with the unknown person. As if they didn't even see him or her.

To Heero's surprise, the person stopped two levels above his current position and stamped on the ground in a distinct pattern, one he knew all too well. It was one of the Order's codes.

::Soldier. Death comes for you.::

Heero closed his eyes. The time had come at last, it seemed. He was ready.

A moment later, two quick blasts tore apart the stone floors above and the wooden paneling that defined his cell. He heard a form drop through the hole into the room.

"It sure was a pain finding you down here. It's like they don't want you to have visitors or something," said a surprisingly cheerful voice. "Nice to meet you, Soldier. I'm Shinigami."

Heero opened his eyes to see someone of a similar size and build leaning over him, but that was where the similarities ended. Shinigami wore black clothing and the mask of an unagi, behind which glittered violet eyes. His rich, chestnut hair fell down his back in a thick braid past his waist.

"What? Catgator got your tongue?"

"Just do it," Heero closed his eyes again. "They'll be on their way here shortly. If you intend to escape, you need to hurry it up."

"Um, buddy, if you think I'm here to kill you, you're really a lot more rock-headed than most earthbenders," Shinigami replied. Heero opened his eyes to glare and watched a set of black daggers cut the ties holding him down with a swift movement. "I'm sure this place is a ton of fun, but I've got orders to get you out."

"Why?"

Shinigami froze, staring down at Heero, the mask betraying nothing of his expression. Then he shook his head.

"You are a piece of work, you know that?" he replied. He pulled off the wooden restraints and offered Heero a hand. "Come on."

Heero was not sure what made him take the hand to climb off the table, but the warmth of Shinigami's fingers steadied him. Still, he had only just gotten to his feet when he felt the reminder of his injury. But he was barely listing to the side for a moment before Shinigami had grabbed his good shoulder, looking critically at the arm Heero had instinctively curled against his chest.

"You gonna make it out of here?" he asked with concern.

"I didn't think so," Heero said quietly. Shinigami's tight grip felt oddly hot even through his tattered shirt and his heart thudded. His eyes swam. How long had it been since he had eaten? Since he had stood up? Probably far too long. His body was betraying him.

"Well, rescuing you is still my mission, so are you on board with it or not?"

"Mission accepted," Heero nodded sharply. Leaning on Shinigami, he felt his resolve return and he forced himself to stand straighter. Apparently it was not yet time to die after all. If he was alive, he would stay alive for now.

"Nice to hear it," Shinigami replied dryly. Then he looked up. "Your choice – up through there or out the door. Whichever you think you can handle better, I guess."

Heero looked up through the hole in the ceiling and smirked. Even injured, he could see stone once more. He reached up with his uninjured arm and pulled, bringing a solid slab of earth down into the wooden prison. Shinigami grabbed one of the leather ties and swiftly bound Heero's arm to his chest to immobilize his hurt shoulder, leaving him with a free hand with which he could earthbend them upwards.

"This way," Shinigami said as they emerged into some kind of Earth Kingdom army barracks, utterly deserted. Now that they were clear of the wood insulation, Heero could clearly feel the burning fires on the other side of the palace and the dozens of earthbenders working to repair the damage, control the fires, and clear people from the area.

"I wouldn't have taken you for a firebender," he said curiously.

"Me?" Shinigami laughed. "No way." As he led Heero through the doorway and up a flight of stairs, he pulled something from a pocket. "Homemade firebending in a jar," he explained. "Even though I'm all out of jars now."

Heero turned over the wick, its end dipped in pitch, and allowed himself a small smile.

Together, they made their way through a series of smaller, little-used corridors, Heero occasionally creating doorways where there were none. Heero knew from his previous study of the layout of the palace that they were near the eastern end of it, though several levels down, but that they would be able to emerge into a fairly clear training area if they continued on.

"You're awfully quiet, Soldier."

"There are better times to talk than this," Heero replied, but he found the corners of his mouth turning up anyway at the slight impishness of Shinigami's voice.

"Yeah, that's probably true. Oh! I grabbed this for you," and his rescuer pulled something from where he had concealed it against the small of his back. It was his mask. "I know you could always make another one, but I figured why leave it with these guys?"

"Thank you." Heero was slightly stunned. It was a gesture, utterly worthless in terms of strategic value, and yet it was oddly comforting. Gratitude sounded somewhere in his heart, but his emotions were primarily focused on his earth senses and he shook the feeling away, tucking the mask into his own shirt. It would be an easy bit of work to repair the metal strap Zechs had snapped when he'd removed it.

Shinigami was about to say something else when they both froze. They didn't even need to exchange glances to communicate – they both knew there were several men coming, and few places to hide.

A moment later and the squad of soldiers rounded the corner and walked into a fight.


	10. A Will Beyond Reach

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, Raenyx, who correctly guessed two of the four soundtrack songs has generously opened up the giving of one of the oneshot claims to the next person to leave a review (not counting you, Miranda, since you got the third right). So, whoever is next to review, you get to claim a oneshot at the end of the tale!
> 
> One song left from the soundtrack to guess and nobody's got there yet. I told you it was hard!
> 
> Enjoy!

Trowa looked across the battlefield before gathering a gust of air to cross it at speed. The colorful carts that looked uncannily like those used by traders and wanderers were mostly in pieces now, torn apart throughout the fight. It was clever, he thought, for a group of Black Lotus members to disguise themselves as travelers, free to go anywhere with no one looking twice.

But his orders had been to eliminate them, and he had. Mostly.

He was just advancing on the last huddle of men, swordsmen instead of benders, when the scent and feel of the air warned him of another group approaching. He dodged to get a better position and saw several men burst from the treeline, already moving in offensive, earthbending motions. That was all he had time for before one of the black-clad Order men charged him, sword out.

Trowa easily evaded him, spinning him into one of his own men and redirecting a fatal blow. He sensed the earthbending around him, but remained focused on the other swordsman who seemed determined to skewer him.

They danced an entertaining set of strikes and blocks, Trowa never losing either his balance or his patience, until at last the man over-committed a blow, stretching too far. It was the work of simple momentum to turn the man's attack into an out-of-control fall that pitched him headfirst into the debris of a wagon.

Trowa turned back to the rest of the scene, only to find himself standing against a line of earthbenders in brown. They didn't exactly look like the Order of the Black Lotus, but they certainly looked ready for a fight.

He jumped at them, knocking two or three off their root to the earth in one big gust of wind, spinning between large chunks of stone that rose up before him. But airbenders and earthbenders are virtual opposites, and Trowa was outnumbered. He flipped into the air to gain the advantage of height only to feel a piece of stone catch at his ankle and yank him hard to the ground. It was only by windmilling his arms that he kept himself from being crushed entirely.

"Gotcha!" one of the earthbenders shouted. Trowa shook off the impact only to feel a band of earth catching his hands and pulling his wrists together before him in an unbreakable grip.

"Stop it!"

Trowa was already gathering himself for another blast of air, knowing at least two ways to airbend his way out of things in spite of his situation, but the voice surprised him enough to pause momentarily. From amidst the earthbenders, a form strode purposefully forward.

Wearing a mask like Trowa's own.

Except where Trowa's was blank, featureless, this one was familiar. It was wreathed with carved black feathers that extended into a full hood, and grey like the sky just before a storm, but the visage was unmistakeably the legendary Blue Spirit.

But Trowa had only a moment to notice these details before the individual pulled the mask off before him.

"I'm Spirit, like you're No-Name. I'm one of you," he said, and his voice had dropped from commanding to inviting. "We shouldn't be fighting each other."

Something in Trowa's chest constricted. There was strength in that certainty, in that confidence, and honesty in the approach, more than Trowa himself carried. And the fact that he had just come forward, revealed his identity, stopped the fight, all without summoning any element to hand just in case, it made Trowa want to surrender far more than he wanted to continue his attack.

So he did. Moving slowly, he raised his bound arms and stood to his full height. The rocks broke away from his wrists unexpectedly and Trowa reached up to pull his own mask off. He let it drop and then returned to holding his hands up.

"Put your arms down," and the smile that accompanied the words was kind and amused. "I took my mask off first. You don't need to surrender to me." He took a step forward and bowed in a manner Trowa was not familiar with. "My name is Quatre Raberba."

"Trowa," he said, bowing as well in the way of the Nomads.

"You're hurt," Quatre said gently, stepping forward.

Trowa hadn't really noticed the trickle of blood from just behind his temple where a sharp stone had been reflected by his mask. He froze as Quatre reached up slowly, as though afraid to startle a wild animal, to touch the congealing blood. When Trowa did not pull away, Quatre drew closer, peering at the wound and carefully brushing past Trowa's long bangs to see the full extent of it.

When his fingers touched the airbender's arrow tattoo on his head concealed under all that hair, Trowa felt a jolt like being dropped into very hot water. Even Catherine had never touched his tattoos before. No one had, not since they'd been given to him. He'd never allowed it.

"I'm not a healer," Quatre said regretfully. "I can't fix this for you. But we've got a friend who can patch you up."

Trowa nodded wordlessly, his mouth suddenly dry. Quatre showed no reaction at all. How could he not have felt that? How could his heart not be pounding at that touch? Unless, of course, to Quatre, touch was not so unusual. And he seemed to have no tattoos of his own, either. But then, Trowa didn't know if airbender tattoos were supposed to be special somehow. He'd never taken the trouble to ask.

"You're very quiet for an airbender," Quatre remarked as he led Trowa towards the men that had recently been attacking him. It took Trowa a moment to realize he was being gently teased.

"I only talk when there's something worth saying," he returned. And found himself quirking a smile which he quickly tried to hide.

"All right. Trowa, these are the Maganacs. They're my friends and allies." Quatre pretended not to have seen the smile, but he was pleased nonetheless.

"Master Quatre," the single largest man Trowa had ever seen stepped out from the crowd. "Are you certain about this person?"

"I'm sure, Rashid. Trowa is like me, and fighting for the same thing."

Trowa looked at Quatre in surprise, then dropped his eyes to the mask still in Quatre's hands. He had known there were others besides Wufei, that he was part of a coordinated effort, but he had not expected to meet anyone else so soon. And he had, frankly, expected anyone he did meet to be more…soldier-like. Wufei had been a consummate firebending warrior. This young man spoke and acted like an aristocrat from one of the bigger cities, not a freedom fighter. But anyone who could command a legion of earthbenders had to be worthy somehow.

"As you say, Master Quatre." The giant bowed. "I am Rashid, commander of the Maganacs in the absence of Master Quatre. I apologize for our haste in attacking you. We will be glad to grant you shelter and whatever supplies you may need."

Trowa nodded stiffly.

"If I'm right, we'll be receiving new orders soon," Quatre said, looking back at Trowa. "You are welcome to stay with us until your messenger hawk finds you."

Quatre reached up and put a hand on Trowa's shoulder and it was all the airbender could do not to breathe in deeply enough to memorize the scent of this person, this oddly compelling Quatre Raberba beside him.

But as Quatre called for whoever served as their healer and began speaking to Rashid, Trowa strengthened his resolve. This was too dangerous. Something about Quatre made him want to relax and close his eyes and curl up in the warmth of his presence as sky bison liked to do in the sunlight.

And for that reason, he would leave as soon as he possibly could rather than risk what his heart seemed to want him to give.

-==OOO==-

Duo felt his face stretch into a grin so wide it threatened to split his mask in two. Soldier might be a stick in the mud, but he was _determined_. This was fun!

The group of Earth Kingdom guards proved an entertaining challenge for the temporarily one-armed earthbender and Duo's numerous daggers. But that squad had raised an alert so Duo and Soldier had been fighting their way out of the city ever since. At one point, Soldier had outright sneered at their opponents before, with one hand, relocating an entire hallway to clear their path. Somewhere around there, Duo decided he really liked this guy.

"So, what's the escape plan?"

"Um..." But maybe the feeling wouldn't be mutual after all. "Um, I'm open to ideas!"

"You're joking," Soldier turned his intense eyes on Duo in disbelief. "How could you possibly be so ill-prepared for your mission?"

"No, don't look at me like that. I _did_ have a plan. But we're a little off-course now. And besides, I'm more of a go-with-the-flow kind of guy." In the moment of running before the next squad caught up to them, he glanced upwards in thought. "I suppose, if we got out of the palace, we could use the canals. They run straight out of the inner ring."

"Acceptable."

Even as he turned to follow Soldier, trusting the earthbender to know better than himself which way to go, he mentally kicked himself.

"Just one thing," he said as Soldier shoved aside a wall and they were hit by bright sunlight. "I'm not sure I..."

"You're a waterbender," Soldier said firmly. "I can tell by the way you move."

"Yeah," Duo answered, grateful for the sudden ducking under some kind of shrubbery so he could hide his sigh in a pile of leaves, "but I'm not a very _good_ waterbender."

That actually caused Soldier to halt in surprise. He was obviously aware of the proximity of the next guards, or lack thereof, for he took a moment to regard Duo carefully. Duo wondered if the earthbender could decipher his expression behind the unagi mask. With earthbending senses as highly developed as this guy's, who knew?

"If you are of the Order, if you are one of us," Soldier's glance flicked down to where he had stowed his own mask, "you must be exceptional in some way. And I don't mean your rudimentary combat skills."

"Thanks for that, really."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know, but it won't help us in the river."

Suddenly Soldier smiled at him, not a dismissive or superior smirk, but a real smile. He held out a hand.

"You will find it in yourself, Shinigami. If your heart is great enough, you can move your element without limit."

Duo considered the hand. He reached out, only to have Soldier grip his wrist. He was moving slowly, so Duo didn't pull away, and after a moment found himself twisted into a position not unlike what Soldier had done when lifting the wall. It was a bending form, one of the most basic. He felt his bending stretch, felt the standing pools not far away responding to him.

"Of course I know how to do this," he grumbled. "I'm not _that_ much of a beginner."

"Then do it," Soldier ordered.

Duo took his arm back and moved towards the nearest pool of water, close to the outlet to the canal. He lifted his arms, not in a perfect pose he'd seen other waterbenders use, but in the one that worked for him. The waves of the pool churned in response, rising up as a wall.

"See?" he demanded, holding the position.

But Soldier stepped over and looked at him carefully, then at the water.

"Earthbending is a solid art, the power of which comes from single-minded stubbornness. Waterbending has always appeared to be about motion. This is the stillest I've seen you since you dropped into my cell. Why do you stop moving to bend?"

Duo made an exasperated noise. "Because I'm trying to pay attention to whether or not we've got a bunch of earthbending guards about to come after us!"

"We do," Soldier said measuredly, "but I can listen for you. Then you wouldn't have to look over your shoulder when you should be focused on your real skill."

"That'd be a first," Duo replied darkly. He'd spoken without thinking, and he was grateful the mask hid his sudden grimace at admitting too much.

There was a beat of silence. Duo expected the earthbender to react somehow, but he didn't. Instead, Soldier tensed and his eyes flicked to the left. But rather than turning to fight or starting to sprint ahead, he turned back to Duo. He smirked then, and stepped forward.

"A true bender can bend their element when encased in it, even without moving. When you are surrounded by your element, you will find the truth of yourself. Perhaps you just need to have reason to trust it."

And he jumped into the water of the canal.

Duo stared just a moment too long before following. The earthbender must be genuinely suicidal – he wouldn't be able to earthbend in the water and he could hardly swim with one arm. The guards following them would have a tougher time sensing them if they were in water, it was true, but if they did catch on, the pair of them would be extremely vulnerable even if Duo were an expert waterbender, which he clearly wasn't. And yet Soldier had just gone in. That was a stupid amount of trust for having just met.

Duo jumped into the canal, bending through it and swimming like a fish in the current that grew stronger with each canal and pool that poured into the city's artificial river. Soldier was a little ahead, gamely kicking along though it was obviously difficult for him to keep his head above water. In a moment, Duo caught up.

"You," he said breathlessly, "are crazy. Do you _want_ to die?"

Not waiting for an answer, he pulled off his mask and pushed it into his shirt. It was much harder to swim with it on. Soldier looked at him in surprise and Duo grinned self-consciously.

"Hi. I'm Duo. I run and hide, but I never tell a lie. And you _are_ crazy, but I'm going to complete this mission and get you out no matter what stunts you pull."

"Duo," Soldier considered. "Hn. My name is Heero."

"And it's gonna be mud if you don't stop doing this crazy stuff," Duo said sharply. Then he turned back to the situation at hand. He could sense the water clearly, the path from the inner ring to freedom open and clear of barriers. He just needed to get them there before the Earth Kingdom's army caught on to their plan.

"Okay. You wanted to prove you're some kind of secret waterbending teacher?" Duo challenged. "Let's see if I'm a good student."

He ducked back under the water and _let go_. Soldier – no, Heero – was counting on him to be better than his half-bender self. This canal felt like an artery to him, a single flow in a solid mass. He could be the heart of the water, as the water was the blood of Ba Sing Se. And if he became the water, became the current, then his heartbeat, his heartblood, was the water. It was not outside him. It was inside him. It was part of him.

It was just like bloodbending, but without the pain.

And like the moment years before when he had finally understood his own chi, understood how to move the energy in himself, he had an instant of clarity. Duo had been reborn in that moment of chi and blood as Shinigami long ago. Now, he felt the unagi mask against his heart and understood all at once that water, like blood, was also death in the right hands.

And death, unlike life, he could handle.

A torrent rose up in the canal and surged through Ba Sing Se with a single-minded force of will as it rushed forwards. Guards saw the swell of water but had only barely set their root when the rumbling wash was already passed. Those few who started to close the gates and locks found themselves battling instead to free themselves from stone suddenly lifted from the bank and wrapped around them.

Duo met Heero's eyes with a bright grin and he knew the glinting in the earthbender's eyes came from the same fierce joy. The water cradled them in an impenetrable, nimble ball, and the earth defended and supported them. They raced beyond the innermost ring of the city and followed the channels and waterways out to the wash that ran into Lake Laogai, well beyond the reach of the alarm to raise defenses in time to find them.

"Hey," Duo said as he set them on the far side of the lake, only a few steps from a fairly easy place through which either of them could escape the city either by earthbending the thin wall or passing through the sewage current (which was definitely not the preferable way, but it worked in a pinch), "thanks. Really."

"It came from you," Heero replied.

"Well, if you got anything else like that, I'd love to hear it," Duo shrugged. "Got plenty of time to listen now."

Heero tipped his head questioningly even as he began to stride towards the nearby wall.

"I have a mission."

"Not anymore," Duo shook his head. "Your bird will confirm it, but you're going to get new orders. You were in there a while and things have changed. We've got places to be, as fast as we can get there."

"Together?" There was so much disdain in Heero's face and voice at the word Duo burst out laughing.

"Why not?"

Heero punched through the wall and began to move away.

"Do as you wish."

-==OOO==-

Trowa looked across the warm firelight at his host and found himself shaking his head, a smile tugging at his face without his permission.

"You really just jumped off the fortress wall? And they believed you were a spirit?"

"Well, if you don't have to move, they don't think you're an airbender, since the only airbenders who can fly use gliders or wave their arms around a lot," Quatre grinned. "It's not my fault that people see what they want to see instead of what is there."

"So what is there, then?"

"My friends help me. They're mostly earthbenders who trained as sandbenders," Quatre explained. "In the dark or in low light, sandbending looks exactly like airbending, and the sand can carry me. So they make it look like the Blue Spirit is flying since I'm not bending anything."

"They're lifting you up, then," Trowa nodded in understanding. "That takes a great deal of trust on your part."

"Oh, not really. I owe the Maganacs everything because they owe me everything. It all balances out."

Trowa leaned back, thinking. His afternoon had gone very differently than he had expected. Quatre proved to be as good as his word, producing a man with skilled hands who declared Trowa's injury minor enough to not need a waterbending healer and had put a bandage on instead. Then, when Heavyarms had swooped in, message-less, Quatre had invited him to stay for dinner while his own hawk, Sandrock, was out. Dinner had turned into a tent in which he was welcome to stay the night or until he received orders.

Never once in all of their discussions had Trowa felt trapped. The only other time he had felt safe enough to remain – when not on a mission or needing to maintain a cover – had been with Wufei. Perhaps, though, that was part of being one of the Order's masks. Perhaps they were all uniquely nonthreatening to an airbender who would dedicate himself to nothing save the path the wind led him down. Or perhaps he was getting soft.

Trowa glanced across the fire at where Quatre had taken to staring into the flames in silence.

There was no awkwardness in not talking. There was no awkwardness in any of it, and the longer he stayed in this strange camp of desert-dwellers and the odd golden-haired Quatre, the more his wary first impressions of the latter faded. He still remembered that odd jolt at Quatre's touch, the odd scent in the air, but since then there had been nothing. Quatre had even put a hand on his shoulder while showing him to his tent and it had been devoid of that strangeness.

But then, the healer had mentioned that a blow to the head could make a person's senses abnormally heightened for a while, so perhaps that was all it had been. Trowa certainly felt much less interested in immediately fleeing the camp. Rather, he felt like he had with Wufei – that here was a place he could rest, a place he could allow someone else to keep watch, and all would be well.

He might not feel that way for long, and he might not take advantage of it for more than a night, but Trowa was content to let his instincts guide him for now. For as long as the wind was content to be still, so was its follower.

"Master Quatre," Rashid nodded in greeting to Trowa before turning his attention back to his boy. "The message you were waiting for is here," and he handed over a narrow slip of parchment.

"Thank you," he replied, smiling and bidding the large man goodnight before turning to the message. His eyes danced across it rapidly before he looked up. "It'll definitely be Republic City to which we are sent next," he said, "probably you as well as me. Things are coming to a head there and the Order seems to want a little more help on hand. You could travel with us if you want."

Trowa made a noncommittal sound in response. They stared into the dying fire in silence for a long time before, by unspoken agreement, both rose to go to their individual tents as the embers began to cool.

When Heavyarms woke Trowa just before dawn with his orders, which did include traveling to Republic City, he dressed quickly and hefted the shoulder-bag given to him by Quatre the night before. It was a kindness he had not expected, but he understood from the eloquent look in Quatre's eyes that to refuse it would cause more harm than to accept it.

He was only a few paces beyond the borders of the camp, slipping through the changing sentries at dawn, when the air told him someone was behind him.

"I'll see you again," Quatre said softly. Trowa turned, wondering how he had even known that his airbending guest was leaving.

"I know," was his reply.

"Be safe on the road to Republic City," Quatre raised a hand in farewell. "Goodbye, Trowa."

Trowa nodded and continued to walk, cognizant of the blue-green eyes fixed on him. Perhaps his head was still slightly wounded, for he felt as if he could still catch a tiny scent of Quatre on the wind long after he had left the camp behind.

-==OOO==-

Treize stalked through the long shadows, silent as the falling dusk, before striking his boot with the tip of the ceremonial whip he carried of habit.

"Enough!"

The power of his presence alone seemed to cause everything else to fall to stillness. He took in the scene.

His ship and its men had put into port for supplies before continuing back into Fire Nation waters in search of their opponents as ordered by the Fire Lord. Because theirs was a warship, Treize had simply avoided the politics of berthing in Republic City proper and had opted for this smaller fishing village down the western coast. Because it was such a small dock, however, his men did not have accommodations outside of the ship itself, so many had thrown up tents along the waterfront to build an impromptu camp.

It was at the border of this that the fight had begun.

"Who are you?" Treize asked, the lone, hooded figure holding fire between them so none could see the face clearly. "Why do you attack my men?"

"Your men shelter a murderer," came a raw, furious, _strong_ voice. "I have followed him and his allies over half the Earth Kingdom. He is the last of them and I will see justice for what they have done!"

"None of my men could be the person you seek," Treize replied reasonably, moving forward again and gesturing for the few guards who had not already been burned in the altercation to fall back. "We have only just arrived."

"As have I," sneered the other, "and yet I saw him slip into that encampment. If you protect that _slime_ , I will destroy you all."

Treize turned to the nearest officer and spoke in a voice that most men hoped never to hear. " _Find him_." The officer practically squeaked in terror and ran. Treize turned back. "If what you say is true, he shall be brought to you."

"Not good enough." The hooded firebender twisted and his cape fell back, revealing the mask of the Sun Warriors. "Stand aside or face me."

Treize's mind moved quicker than lightning. _This_ before him was the man he was supposed to be seeking, the one who had attacked the Fire Nation. And yet, to drag this man back to the Fire Lord would not end the war – it would only incite it further as Fire Lord Dermail attempted to "prove" the involvement of his enemies. This warrior did not care that he was alone against a ship's full contingent of Fire Nation elite – he was seeking justice and he would find it. Treize found he did not want to drag this man away in chains for such a thing as seeking justice, and he had no desire to finish his mission so quickly, either.

He made a decision.

"Then perhaps a gentleman's agreement," he said, dropping his heavy outer cloak and weaponry. "If you can defeat me in single combat, you may search for your quarry here. If I defeat you, you must allow me to do with him as I wish."

"If you come between me and my enemy, I will fight you regardless," the masked firebender responded. But he nodded anyway and took a position opposite.

"And who is your enemy?" Treize asked.

"Anyone who stands against justice. Anyone who has blood on their hands from a dishonorable battle. Anyone who would turn this world to ash for the sake of power."

"Your struggle will never end. The enemy you describe is fate." Treize smiled anyway, his heart content. At last, someone worth the honor of battle.

"Then I'll fight forever!" And the masked firebender attacked.

The combat was intense, worse than an Agni Kai, because it had fewer rules. This was not a pure duel of firebending as both engaged in hand-to-hand combat when they closed with one another, and it was a battle neither was willing to lose. But Treize quickly realized that his opponent, while superb, could be beaten. For the Fire Nation prince knew that rage made one unbalanced, and lack of balance drew strength away in time.

"Where he able to settle his heart on something solid," Treize found himself thinking as he blocked a punch and twisted to strike with an elbow, "he would be unmatched among firebenders."

But in the end, it was the masked warrior who lay on the ground and Treize who stood above, victorious.

"Kill me, then."

"That was not our deal," Treize shook his head. "Besides, there is neither honor nor justice in your death here and now." He offered him a hand.

The firebender rolled away and got to his feet without help. "Find the murderer hiding with your people. He deserves worse than death for his crimes. You gave your word."

"And I shall." As the defeated warrior began to walk away, Treize cleared his throat. "We will fight again, you know," he called. "I am honor-bound to repay you for the damage you have done to the Fire Nation."

"When next we meet," he didn't even turn around, "if you duel me again, you will lose. I carry no guilt for my actions. I am on the path of justice, and I will not fail."

"No," Treize mused to himself as his opponent walked away, "no, I don't believe you will."


	11. Stand Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "People notice stillness. If you are still in the storm around you, all eyes will be on you. And when you hold their eyes, you can hold their hearts."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to say, this chapter has one of my favorite scenes ever. Notes at the end, though, to explain a bit about it. Also, all my thanks to the various websites that have written up ALL the speeches from Gundam Wing. I borrowed quite a bit for Relena here direct from the original. It's amazing how changing the world for this story didn't change so much after all.
> 
> Also, congratulations saiyuri_dahlia on being the first to review! You win the third oneshot. At the end of the story, you get to pick one scene, any scene, and I'll write it up in the continuing series.
> 
> One left from the soundtrack game. Nobody's got it yet!
> 
> Type to you in a week! Enjoy!

Relena closed her eyes and refused to fidget. She remembered her mother's advice from many years ago, the first time Relena had accompanied her father on Earth Kingdom business: " _People notice stillness. If you are still in the storm around you, all eyes will be on you. And when you hold their eyes, you can hold their hearts._ " If there were ever a time she needed to command a room and hold the hearts within it...

"Relena?"

She turned to Noin, who squeezed her shoulder warmly. "Yes?"

"You can do this, Relena. We believe in you." Noin smiled, looking over the girl. They'd only been in Republic City since the noon hour, and yet already Relena was here, in the antechamber of the Council's room, and looking the part of a true Peacecraft. That was due to Zechs's preparations, of course, who had sent with them a gown worn by Relena's mother many years prior when she had been the wife of the Peacecraft. The long and flowing purple skirt, worked in silvery threads, spilled from beneath the white robe with the broad sleeves that had all four of the elemental colors represented. Relena's hair was no longer a mantle about her shoulders in its girlish fashion, but instead pulled to the nape of her neck, lending her an air of maturity.

"Thank you, Noin," Relena answered, nodding. "Whatever happens, thank you for standing beside me." She glanced at Noin's formal Earth Kingdom uniform and felt suitably impressed with the care Noin had taken to demonstrate her own authority.

"Your brother would be here if he could," she replied in a whisper, "so it is an honor to hold his place for him." Then, a little louder, "Remember, if anything goes wrong, just run. I'll protect you."

"I know."

A moment later, the doors were opened. "The petitioners from Earth King Noventa may now enter."

Noin moved first, Relena a step to the side and behind, not as a servant, but as one who was protected. The broad room was dome-shaped, its white walls and golden accents shining in the late afternoon light. In the center of the room on the broad dais was a large, oval-shaped table, around which sat eight men, the Council of Republic City. The largest chair at the end of the table stood empty, but the man to its right rose from his own.

"Noin of the Earth Kingdom, we greet you," he said, and there was weariness in his tone, but no malice. Relena looked more closely and could see the exhaustion across every face in the room. These men had fought against Chairman Dulindal's plans, had been powerless against his growing private authority, and, from what she understood from Noin, had in some cases been threatened with their lives had they dared cross him. _Like my father was_ , she realized, e _xcept they survived and he did not._ Her heart went out to them.

"Members of the Council of Republic City," Noin said, bowing formally, "I bring to you this signed declaration from Earth King Noventa. I can personally attest to its truth."

She handed the scroll to the nearest man in the room, one of the guards, who carried up the dais and to the men. Practically the instant it was unrolled and the first of the Council began to read, there was an uproar.

Relena focused on holding perfectly still through the next long moments, breathing in and out and letting nothing touch her inner quiet. Each of the eight men had to read the scroll, and several of them were exclaiming in disbelief or anger or something else even before their companions had finished reading. Questions were spat at Noin rapidly, which she answered in the order in which they were shouted, never raising her voice and never budging so much as a hair from her perfectly calm stoicism.

They demanded to know the proof for Relena's identity. Noin told them an edited version of the story and produced items and facts that could not have been falsified. They argued about whether this secret kept constituted treachery by the Earth Kingdom against Republic City, or if it meant Marticus Peacecraft himself had been a traitor. Noin calmly and firmly reminded them of the threats that had been in place at the time and of their own predecessors' unlawful banishment of their hereditary leader. One of the members of the Council demanded to know what had happened to the other members of the Peacecraft family, and Noin replied, as planned, that the threats made long ago had been fulfilled and now only Relena remained.

Finally, the man who seemed to be the nominal leader amongst the eight pounded on the table for silence.

"Since you," he looked straight at Relena, who had not moved throughout the entire ordeal, "seem to be in the middle of all this, let us hear from you, Relena, daughter of Marticus Peacecraft."

This was it. Relena stepped forward without being invited, ascending the dais slowly until she stood across the table from them. These next moments were everything. They would decide her fate, the fate of Republic City, the fate of her father's dream. _Help me, father._ She breathed out once, slowly, before she began to speak.

"I knew not of my father's true identity until recently," she began in a voice that was even, "but having learned of it, I stand before you and offer to assist you in any way I may. Republic City shines alone as a light of hope to the world that there may yet be peace, that people may yet live without war.

"I know you have been through a difficult time here. I know you have had a Chairman who was not interested in the unity of Republic City, and in him was reflected the difficulties of the world around us. Republic City is unique because it is one nation built of many peoples, people willing to be different and yet united. Republic City was founded on the ideal of the Avatar, where all may come together as one.

"Over the ages, the world has had many nations, many benders, and many ways of thinking. Perhaps we should accept the fact that a number of disputes in the past were unavoidable. Freedom is a right given to all people, and at the same time we must realize people cannot be given control in complete freedom. What we need to achieve complete harmony is to learn to be thoughtful toward others, for a peaceful future doesn't lie in fighting. It's our job to learn from our past and use that experience to build a new and correct future.

"I'm fully aware my manners and speech and behavior seem impolite to you, despite the fact that I'm merely following my father's teachings. But it's my sincere hope that more countries and more people can achieve true peace. To that end, I ask for your assistance. Please, allow me to join you in leading Republic City to peace."

The members of the Council exchanged glances.

"You ask for the post of Peacecraft," said the leader of the Council. "You ask us to entrust our city, our nation, to the untested hands of a very young idealist when the world stands on the brink of war. You must forgive us if we are hesitant."

"Of course I do," Relena replied. "But a Peacecraft is not a Chairman. I would not presume to lead, but to offer the perspective my father would have given if he were here. Together we must guide Republic City. I know only that it was my father's wish that I should take up his post and bring again his ideals to the world. I do not wish for power over you or anyone else. I am not the one who is powerful. I believe in the power of hope and trust. I believe in the power of peace."

"And if we choose not to reinstate you as the heir to your family's place?" one of the others asked. "If we choose to deny you the station of Peacecraft? Then what?"

"Then I will find another way to bring peace without war," Relena said firmly. "I have been charged with a duty and I will see it through." She remembered Heero, remembered his willingness to die, remembered how he saw his own life, and its lack of worth.

"I have to live for what my father died to protect," she said with the slightest hitch in her throat. "That is my duty now. If you do not wish me to follow that duty as a Peacecraft, then I shall do it only as Relena."

The members of the Council exchanged glances again. Relena noticed that they had before them each a set of pai sho tiles, and each man was now putting his fingers on one, sliding it forward. She could not make out the symbols from the wrong end of the table, but obviously they could.

"Noin," the leader of the Council said, "we thank you for bringing the daughter of Marticus Peacecraft to us. What are your orders from the Earth King?"

"I will remain with Relena until such time as General Zechs recalls me to my station," she replied easily. "Wherever she goes, I am bound to follow to protect and serve her."

"Then we will make rooms for you available." He smiled and bowed his head to Relena. "You have your mother's charm and your father's heart, and we dearly need both. Welcome to Republic City, Relena Peacecraft."

-==OOO==-

"So, where we headed?"

Heero looked at the braided waterbender who had accompanied him all the way from Ba Sing Se. As much as he had expected to hate being stuck with someone else, he had found the experience...oddly comfortable. There was certainly merit to not having to watch his back alone all the time, and Duo had proved to be more than willing to share the duties of travel, from setting up camp to stealing food when needed. On the other hand, Duo had seemed to have quite a bit more spare money than Heero would have expected, so the food-stealing was more for Duo's entertainment than actual need.

"There's a tea-house not far from here," Heero replied, winding through the throngs of people. "Wing's latest message said we'd find our contacts there. The Island Oasis."

"Yeah," Duo replied, but his face was more thoughtful. "Wonder who will be there."

"Does it matter?"

The fact that Duo didn't respond made Heero pause, but not for long as he didn't want to be crushed in the road. They were between one of the major marketplaces on the eastern side of Republic City and where the larger buildings started to grow up around the City Council building. The city was absolutely alive with people, talking and rushing about in a great frenzy – only yesterday, after all, had been the announcement of a new Peacecraft and the restoration of the Council to full power. Heero had been pleased.

"Come on," Duo grabbed Heero's elbow and yanked him off to the left, spotting the sign hanging over a relatively small shop backed against a number of other buildings. "Let's get some tea."

Inside, there were several tables, and to anyone not looking, it would have been exactly like every other tea-house in the city-state. But those of the Order knew the subtle signs, the themes in the hangings, even the colors that signaled a place where they would be known and sheltered. Heero and Duo walked straight back to a table in the far corner where two cups sat waiting.

"May I help you?" asked a voice.

"Jasmine tea, please," Heero stated firmly, ignoring the already-set table. "I have my own cup."

"Are you sure?" the serving girl raised an eyebrow and glancing down at the fragrant tea already evident on the table. "We have very fine pottery."

"If you'd let us wash our white saucer, we'd have a matched set," Duo put in, winking.

"Your feet seem to have come a long way," the girl was now watching them very carefully. "Perhaps you ought to wash them as well."

"If you've a place we could take off our boots, we would appreciate it," Heero finished.

"The jasmine tea will be waiting for you," the girl smiled and gestured. Duo and Heero rose, sharing a look of relief. With so few they could trust, it was a powerful, heady feeling to be in a place not only under the watch of the Order but, from the lengthy code needed, a stronghold.

They followed the girl, whom both had noticed palming a tiny throwing dagger (and they approved of her caution), ignoring her chatter about how they could wash up after their journey in the kitchen – it was just filler for anyone paying attention. Through where the tea was brewed into a little courtyard behind, there were long white sheets drying in the warm wind on strings strung between buildings. The sheets billowed around a small well to the right, beyond which was a door with a symbol scratched just above the door-handle. Heero and Duo bent to wash, but the moment the sheets shifted in the wind they were away across the dirt and through the door, concealed from every direction in a tunnel of white linen.

"It may all be code, but I really do hope there's food somewhere," Duo giggled as his eyes adjusted in the dimmer light of the room. Then, a moment later, he strode forward with a bright exclamation. "Cat! Aw, man, you did beat us here after all! I was hoping we'd get here before you so I could surprise you!"

"Duo!"

Heero tensed, but Duo threw an arm around the shoulder of a yellow-haired young man of their own age who was grinning.

"Nice work," the young man said, eyes flicking to Heero. "Glad to see he's okay."

"Was there any doubt? Good thing it was me and not you in there, though, 'cause he's a pain to deal with," he grinned. Then he looked back at his other friend. "Heero," Duo introduced him, "this is Quatre, codename Spirit," he ruffled the sunlight hair fondly. "He's the one who gave me all the money for our journey."

Heero nodded noncommittally. Quatre stepped up and offered a bow, which the earthbender returned after a moment. He was going to say something when the door opened behind him.

Two more forms entered, and the five stared at one another. Then, one who had just entered fixed his eyes on Quatre. "You made it," he said in a low voice.

"I'm happy to see you again," Quatre smiled.

"You know him?" the last of them nudged his shoulder.

"Yes. He's Spirit. Quatre. Looks like we all had the same orders to come here."

"Let's do some introductions for real," Duo smirked at Heero, who looked a little cagey amidst the suddenness of it all. "I'm Shinigami, and my name's Duo. I run, I hide, but I never tell a lie. That silent guy over there," he pointed, "is Soldier, whose name is Heero."

"I'm No-Name, but call me Trowa." He nodded at the rest in greeting.

"My name is Wufei, though you will have heard of me as Nataku," put in the last of them. "Do you all know one another?"

"I met OwlCat here a while ago," Duo said shrugging, "before I went to bail Heero out of the Earth Kingdom."

"I met him after I parted from you," Trowa turned to him. "I have never seen the others before."

"So," Wufei's eyes narrowed, "you are all of the Order, if you are here. And all masks. But why should I trust any of you?" He raised one shoulder at the look Trowa shot him in a half-shrug. "Excepting you, I have no reason to let my guard down for anyone here."

"Well, aren't you a suspicious guy?" Duo quipped. "Go ahead and glare at me – Heero does it all the time and I haven't backed down yet." He winked carelessly at Wufei's glower and moved farther into the room, which was comfortably furnished with several low tables and soft cushions. "Anybody got any food around here?"

"They'll bring us something to eat after a while," Quatre said.

"Duo saved my life," Heero spoke up unexpectedly, "so if he believes in you," he nodded to Quatre, "so will I."

"And I already know Trowa," Quatre smiled a little, "so I am willing to accept you on his word," he indicated Wufei.

"So we're all set!"

"I am not convinced," Wufei replied solidly. "I may accept Trowa's word, but I have no reason to trust yours. You may have been false to him, and so those for whom you vouch would also be false."

"Rose to first vertex, dawn, then."

Wufei's head snapped up and his eyes narrowed at Quatre. "Jasmine to third vertex, noon."

"White dragon to second vertex, nightfall." There was nothing soft and gentle in Quatre's face now. His expression had taken on the focus of a hunter circling prey, challenge and excitement lighting him from within. For the first time for everyone but Duo, who had fought beside him, he looked not like the soft aristocrat of his bearing and clothing, but the one who wore the Spirit mask.

"What are they doing?" Duo turned to Trowa, perplexed. The airbender's face was creased in amusement.

"Pai sho, obviously."

"What, in their heads?"

Trowa looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Unless you see a board between them." He waved at the empty air.

"The game of pai sho is more than a means of communicating with the Order or a simple pastime," Heero spoke up from where he leaned against the wall. "It is said to be the ultimate test of strategy and thinking. A player's moves reveal their true self. An astute opponent can read your intentions in the game you play. And only an intelligent mind can master the game at all, let alone play it remembering every position of every tile. They will learn more about one another this way than by hours of conversation."

"As will we, if we listen," Trowa nodded. He dropped to sit on a nearby carpet.

"Oh, whatever," Duo flopped down on the plushiest cushion on the ground. "Just let me know if one of them turns out to be a psychopath, all right?"

"Boat to third vertex, mid-noon."

"Stone to forth vertex, second of the morning."

Quatre and Wufei had not looked away from one another, not once. The world between them had narrowed to nothing but the board in their minds and the eyes that gave away everything. The air was charged with the intensity of the match that passed with the swiftness of heartbeats.

"Wheel to first vertex, midnight."

Wufei's face lit up in triumph. "Knotweed to second vertex, dawn."

Heero and Trowa exchanged glances. Neither was a master, but the Knotweed tile in dawn should, if they had followed things correctly, guarantee a victory for Wufei, and a decisive one at that.

"Are you sure?" Quatre asked softly, finally looking away for a moment and breaking their hyper focus.

"Of course I'm sure!" Wufei's eyes flashed dangerously.

"Very well. White Lotus, third vertex, midnight."

"The Full Moon?" Wufei's eyebrows nearly reached his hair. "How did you construct it without my realizing?" He stepped forward and offered a formal bow to Quatre, who returned it with one of his own.

"So...does that mean you're done?" Duo called sleepily from where he had curled up. "Who won?"

"I'm not sure," Heero admitted. "We are past my understanding."

"It's a strategy," Quatre explained. "The White Lotus tile is the most powerful, so it's placements can determine the outcome of any match if it is done carefully enough."

"Most players use the White Lotus to create a portion of the board which is utterly defensible, a bastion of territory that cannot be overrun, as I did," Wufei continued. "To hold the White Lotus to the end takes the ultimate patience and strategy, for there must be a perfect, concealed gap in which it can be useful, and that the other player will not see."

"So what did the game tell you?" Trowa asked, very specifically not showing his amusement.

"Wufei is intelligent and strong," Quatre said, looking at the firebender with bright eyes. "He knows what he wants and he is thoughtful in his approach, even if he may be lost in the moment when his emotions are roused. He is loyal only to his own goals, and absolutely determined to achieve them."

"Kind of you to say so," Wufei smirked slightly, "given that you trounced me completely."

"He did?" Duo sat up. "I got that he won from your face, but not that he'd beaten you into a pulp!"

"Yes, he did, if you must put it so crassly. The Full Moon refers to a pattern in which a White Lotus is played at the very end in the midnight portion of the board, and its placement effectively turns the entire game on its head. Until that move, I had a clear path to victory. Once Quatre called that tile, he dominated the board. It would seem," he looked at his opponent approvingly, "that he is wise and sees the long game even amidst the battle. Also, the Full Moon is a deceivingly powerful strategy that appears to be weak until the weakness shows itself to be strength. Take from that what you will."

But Wufei's mind appeared to be made up, and when Quatre smiled at him, he smiled back.

"So, no psychopaths?" Duo whispered to Heero, who pressed his lips together to prevent the smile that threatened and shook his head.

"No more than any of us, anyway," he said in an undertone.

"Great!" Duo threw his arms up in a sign of victory. "So now what?"

"I think that means we can be allies now," Trowa smiled a little. The atmosphere in the room had cleared, and while currents of mistrust and uncertainty remained, there was something in place now that had not been there before.

"Why are we here?" Wufei wanted to know. "What was the purpose?"

"You mean besides to rest up, regather supplies, and learn about one another?" Quatre asked, taking a seat at the center table. "You've all heard about Relena, the new Peacecraft of Republic City, right?" They nodded. "If our enemies were going to strike, this is the time and place. The Order of the Black Lotus cannot afford to let Republic City be governed by a true Peacecraft."

"So they'll be coming for her?" Heero's eyes narrowed.

"It's too obvious," Wufei disagreed. "It would be wiser for them to wait longer, to allay suspicions."

"Our orders brought us here," Trowa put in reasonably, "so that suggests _someone_ thinks we'll be needed. Besides, nobody ever said our enemies were particularly wise."

"Does that mean we just get to hang around for a while? I'm really tired of sleeping in the woods, and no offense Heero, but your rock beds aren't exactly comfortable." Duo waddled over to the table with his enormous cushion still firmly underneath him. He looked rather like a mushroom trying to wiggle across the floor, and he grinned when he reached his destination.

"Do better yourself, if you can," Heero returned sharply, but Duo had learned to see the tiny sliver of expression that meant the earthbender was joking with him. He stuck out his tongue.

"I have no intention of sitting here and waiting around for nothing," Wufei shook his head. "I have my own path to follow, no matter what the Order thinks about it."

"Wait."

Trowa rose smoothly from his place on the carpet and moved between the firebender and the door. His green eyes met blazing black ones.

"You better not be thinking of stopping me," Wufei warned.

"Wait," Trowa repeated. "I understand wanting to walk away. Believe me."

Quatre bit the inside of his cheek and said nothing. Trowa continued to talk.

"But Republic City has just made a decision that might well change the course of the world. We have no way of knowing what will happen next. You may not need us now, but how can you be so sure we will not need you?"

"I'm not interested in Order business right now," Wufei returned. "I've got my own battles to fight."

"Let us help you," Quatre stood up and moved over to join Trowa. "Duo and I made a pretty good team in Gaoling."

"And he worked well with me in Ba Sing Se," Heero added, not moving from his place leaning against the wall. Quatre nodded to him gratefully.

"We're not asking for a promise," Trowa put his hands up defensively, a wry smile tugging at his lips. "We all wear a mask. We are all fighting for the same thing, if not for the same reasons. If two together are better than one, what is five?"

"Until we try to kill each other," Duo said grinning and rocking on his cushion. "Then you're all on your own."

Wufei looked at the other four and found himself giving in. It had been different to share a camp with Trowa, better than being alone, and frankly he was exhausted in every way possible. It was worth it to have that companionship, even for a moment again. And if nothing else, they were correct that five might accomplish more than one alone.

But he looked up at Trowa and glared. "Agreed. However, if you sneak off in the middle of the night so dishonorably again, I _will_ find you and we _will_ have words. If I am staying, so are you."

"Oh, he did that to you, too?" Quatre asked, smiling brightly.

"No, I did not." Trowa folded his arms. As everyone looked at him, he shrugged. "I did not 'sneak off' in the middle of the night. It was early in the morning."

-==OOO==-

Elsewhere, a man with silvery-white hair dropped a scroll into the fire, watching it burn with glee. After a moment, he stepped from his private room to where the others waited.

"The time has come. We attack at dusk."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, originally I wrote the pai sho scene in ignorance of the fact that more than one fan has developed actual play for the game. After doing some research and finding out how cool A:TLA fans are, though, I looked around at different versions and interpretations, but I just couldn't get any of them to feel right for me. I rewatched the scenes in A:TLA where Iroh plays and noted how the tiles went down along the wheel-shaped grid the way Go is played, but there were shaded wedges of the board like a clock that had some kind of bearing on the strategy as well. Now, A:TLA has a really inconsistent handling of time, where sometimes they mention things like "minutes" and "hours" and yet sometimes they're working with that one guy who develops the candle that sparks at regular intervals that he doesn't call hours. So I decided to name each of the wedges on the board after a part of the day that could be quantified without having to resolve that issue. I borrowed some of the known tile names from what others had already developed and kind of let it go from there. This is not in any way, shape, or form the "right" way to depict pai sho. It's just what made sense in my head. I hope it works!
> 
> I loved writing that scene, you guys. I've been waiting to pit the two brainiacs against each other for ages!


	12. Brothers Fall, Battles Turn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Order of the Black Lotus had struck, but they would not escape. Not without a fight. Heero's blood practically sang with it. Here were his enemies, and he had more reason than he'd ever had in his life to defeat them. 
> 
> If the Order of the Black Lotus had destroyed the first hope for Republic City in a generation, Heero would bury them. Literally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for things to get big, you guys.
> 
> Enjoy!

Republic City was formed of several peninsulas linked by earthen and metal bridges and bordered from the north and east by rather sharp mountainous ridges that rose up suddenly and faded away just as suddenly. Thus, though the city was on the coast of the Earth Kingdom, it was almost an island and had more trade by sea than through the passes between the plateaus. Legend was that Avatar Aang and Master Toph had raised the peninsulas from the sea itself to found the city of all peoples, but accidentally raised the neighboring land too high at the same time without noticing.

If everything Relena had ever read about Avatar Aang and his friends was true, she thought it might be possible. It seemed like the kind of thing that would happen to them.

She looked over the skyline contemplatively. It was so different from Ba Sing Se, where the inner ring buildings were all required to be no taller than the palace, and few were more than three stories tall, leaving no view but the ordered lines of the city itself. Republic City had towers compared to that, packed close together and shining in the approaching dusk as the sun lit up the mountainous basin beyond. The architecture displayed indications of all four peoples, really, if one knew where to look – the roofs of the Earth Kingdom, the flourishes of the Fire Nation, the colors of the Air Temples, and symbols of water on every wall along the shore. And there was an emerging style all their own, too, as more and more of the city was rendered by metal rather than stonework and by builders who grew up in a mixed world. But Relena was happiest with the stone buildings in the Earth Kingdom style. They reminded her of home.

She was grateful that the ancestral home of the Peacecraft was traditional and familiar. The palatial residence Chairman Dulindal had constructed was opulent and ostentatious and everything Relena didn't want for herself. She was not here to rule Republic City, she was here to serve it. The Peacecraft manor, while lovely, was even more simple than the neighboring residences of the Council members, within easy walking distance of the City's governing buildings, and yet humble compared to those public places. Still, it also afforded a spectacular view of the central peninsula and the ocean beyond.

But not so spectacular as the one Dulindal's residence must have. Relena turned to look up the northern ridge that loomed above the city to where that now-empty home stood.

Only to fall to her knees as a blast from behind her shook the very ground. Heat washed over her in a sickening wind.

"Relena!" Noin shouted, running out onto the balcony and pulling her to her feet with steady hands. Relena turned to look through the railing to see smoke curling from the City Center, where the Council met.

-==OOO==-

Five masked figures raced through the streets.

"Who's still following?" demanded the mask in the form of the Sun Warriors.

"Mine," called back the blank mask who ran at the front.

"And mine," shouted the Blue Spirit from the middle of the line. "They're heading towards the eastern ridge!"

"We need to move faster!" yelled the unagi mask.

"Mission accepted." The Earth Kingdom warrior stopped sprinting for a moment, pulling up a section of the road with a sharp gesture. He pressed his palms together and the portion of rock formed into a solid round disc of stone. He leaped to stand at the leading edge. "Come on."

The other four, somewhat ahead of him, all jumped to take a place on the stone slab before it ran them over. Now, with the speed of earthbending to help them, they could pay better attention to the skies.

"Nice going, Soldier." Duo grinned behind his mask.

"There's mine," Trowa said, pointing. Above, two hawks were visible, streaking through the air as they followed their targets. "Looks like they're going to end up at the eastern pass by the docks."

"Can we cut them off?" Wufei asked.

"Soldier, do you know the layout of this part of the city?" Quatre asked. At the quick head-shake, he put one hand on Heero's shoulder and pointed with the other. "Go that way until you reach the fountain. Then veer to the left along the brown road. That'll be the quickest way."

"Civilians?" Heero asked. Quatre shrugged.

"No more or fewer than anywhere else."

Other than Quatre's swift directions, they traveled in silence. Heero continued moving, pulling the disc along much faster than they could run, though it fatigued him. However, they had little choice. They'd only been sitting down to the promised tea and meal when their hawks, all five of them, came winging in the window with messages of dire warning. Moments later, as they reached the streets, they could feel the aftershocks of the explosion even deeper in the city.

The Order of the Black Lotus had struck, but they would not escape. Not without a fight. Heero's blood practically sang with it. Here were his enemies, and he had more reason than he'd ever had in his life to defeat them. They might have killed Relena, and he did not have the time to find out either way. If the Order of the Black Lotus had destroyed the first hope for Republic City in a generation, Heero would _bury_ them. _Literally_.

Seeing a huge crowd of people down their intended route, Quatre abruptly shouted for Heero to turn down a smaller alley, and the others had to flatten themselves on the stone slab to maintain their balance as he careened to the side. Quatre paused in his directions to pull Wufei to his feet, shooting a glance to Duo and Trowa to ensure they had managed the change in direction as well.

"What's the plan, Spirit?" Duo asked as he yanked his braid out from under Trowa's feet.

"We've got to hit them hard and fast," Quatre answered. "We don't know how many there are."

"Doesn't look like many from here," Trowa put in, pointing.

Their detour had brought them to a park, which gave them a clear line of sight to the pass to the east of Republic City that cut through the mountain ridge. Indeed, even from here, they could see a small crowd of black-clad individuals firebending and earthbending their way past the city guards and onto the road out of the city. There was a blind turn in the pass not far beyond the checkpoint, beyond which they could vanish into the fields and woods, and Heero dug his feet into the disc of earth to try to urge it faster. He could not let them get away.

They shot over the broad thoroughfare that led in one direction to the wharf and in the other back towards the city, past a few merchants' storage buildings, and closed the distance to the pass. Five or six Republic City guards littered the road in various states of injury or unconsciousness. The earthbender didn't even pause to look at them, instead kicking up a cloud of dirt as they approached, lifting higher so they could pass over the guards and up the road.

Suddenly Quatre threw out his arms and pitched himself backwards, knocking all four others off the earthen slab with a cry.

Metal and stone and fire crossed mere hand-spans from where they had been even as the disc crashed into the ground.

"What was that?" Wufei demanded, rolling amidst the heap of them and coming up on his feet, followed by the others.

"It's an ambush!" Quatre exclaimed.

From the buildings all along the road, buildings that should have housed merchants' wares and supplies, black-clad warriors were pouring in copious numbers. Dozens of them, practically an army, every single one wearing a piece of cloth to cover their face below the eyes, and every such disguise bore the symbol of the Order of the Black Lotus.

"We've got to get out of here," Trowa glanced around quickly. "There's too many civilians nearby."

The others turned to where he was looking, seeing that the park and road they had just crossed were now filling with a crowd of curious passersby. Someone else was sounding the alarm to raise the Republic City guards. And down at the wharf, several ships of the Fire Nation navy were unloading soldiers too, who were beginning to turn in their direction. In moments, the situation would be an all-out battle, with more than one nation represented.

"What's the call?" Duo again turned to Quatre. This time, the other three did as well. The Blue Spirit mask hid his expression, but they could practically see him vibrating as he thought quickly. It was the result of the pai sho game – there was no doubt amidst any of them now that the yellow-haired wearer of the mask was more than qualified to think through their situation.

"We've got to lead the Order away from Republic City," Quatre said after only a moment's silence while the others tensely set themselves defensibly against the remains of Heero's conveyance. "We can't let the City or the Fire Nation get pulled into this fight. And I bet they'll follow us. This is a setup, no doubt about it. We need to turn this trap into a trap of our own."

"Up the pass, then," Wufei nodded. "The ridge is narrow here, and beyond it is a vast farmland, sparsely populated. Soldier can even block off the pass after us to keep them from following."

"Split up," Heero said. "There may be even more of them on the other side." He turned his head to Trowa. "You're an airbender, right?"

"Yes."

"We will go over the pass first," Heero decided. "We'll occupy anyone waiting for you on the ground. You get this crowd to follow you into the fields out there. Draw them as far away as you can, and we'll guard the pass and handle whoever stays behind."

"Agreed," Quatre said. "But we need to find each other again after this." He spared only the tiniest glance upwards. "Regather at moonrise on the road to Makapu Village. There's a shrine not far from here. If you're not there, we'll assume you've been defeated."

"Acceptable," Heero gave one quick nod. Then he drew another section of earth upwards, smaller this time. Trowa jumped on agilely, already bending the air to help support Heero's earthbending. With tremendous speed, the stone section rose into the air and set off to head over the mountainous ridge itself, the two masked benders working together.

"Let's go," Wufei said decisively. "If we wish to avoid facing this conflict in the city, we must leave it at once."

Quatre and Duo fell in behind him and the three began to run for the pass.

A few individuals were concealed along the mountain road, but as soon as they moved to strike, they gave away their position. Wufei blasted flame and fury at those who revealed themselves while still at range, and Quatre, shotels in hand, slashed at those who closed with them.

In his peripheral vision, Quatre could see Duo bringing down opponents of his own, either those who emerged to attack from behind or those who got up again after Wufei's fire, his arm swollen as he bloodbended them into unconsciousness or worse. He noted that Duo seemed to be taking some care to keep his actions from being noticed by the firebender taking point. Quatre could understand how Duo might not want to share that particular talent with a complete stranger or alarm Wufei with it in the middle of a fight so he let it pass unmentioned.

As they emerged from the ridge, the trio immediately turned south to keep out of the way of where the remaining two masked fighters had taken up positions and were deep in the heart of battle. But Quatre sped up to pass Wufei and take the lead, racing for a line of trees beyond the nearest fields.

"We're going to have company," he shouted.

The other two looked back to find themselves pursued, and sped up as well. They had a head start and a well-timed blast from their airbending ally bought them even more distance and time to reach cover. However, when the three hit the treeline and kept moving, they made no efforts to hide. If they lost their pursuers, their enemies would double-back for Heero and Trowa and the plan depended upon them keeping a good portion of the force occupied.

Without a word, Quatre, Wufei, and Duo crashed along through the underbrush as quickly as they could, leading away as many opponents as would follow.

-==OOO==-

Heero knew any earthbender worth the title would sense their approach from over the ridge, as there was nothing really subtle about this earthbending, and certainly not at that speed. So he was not surprised when, moments after clearing the top of the steep plateau and beginning their descent, portions of the mountain began to break off and launch themselves at him.

What did surprise him was their quantity.

No-Name – Trowa – drew in a deep breath and blew out a gust of wind that helped to redirect the littler stones and all the clouds of dirt and dust in the air, but that left Heero to handle their slab of rock as well as everything else still incoming. With a contemptuous snarl, he ripped control of the largest boulder away from whoever had cast it at them and sent it careening into everything in its path, clearing them a way through. With the airbender to deflect the smashed remains, they didn't even have to slow down.

Heero spotted the largest contingent of the ambushers, raising an eyebrow behind his mask at how many there were, and angled them in that direction. It would have been a well-executed ambush, with multiple groups clustered around the pass, and even a full squad of earthbenders on the backs of eelhounds to chase them down if they had escaped. If the five masked fighters had rushed through the pass without anticipating it, they would have been surrounded and destroyed, obviously the intent of the Order of the Black Lotus who had sent them.

But Heero intended to make every one of them fail in their mission.

Well before they were even a tree's height from the closest wave of attackers, Trowa leaped off Heero's conveyance and threw himself into the air, tumbling over and over as he picked up momentum and wind-speed. When he landed, he brought with him a tornado that scattered the full complement of enemies gathered near into smaller, disorganized forces. Heero was pleased – most airbenders, even masters, seemed to rely too heavily on the advantages of the glider-staff, which was a useful tool but also a distraction if it were removed or damaged. Trowa moved the air better without it than some airbending masters Heero had known.

But then he was in his own battle against a large number of opponents, earthbenders, firebenders, and weapon-wielding soldiers aplenty. It should have been an overwhelming force.

But not against Heero. Not against Soldier.

Deep in combat, deflecting attacks, driving away inferior warriors, cutting off avenues of attack, he registered the fact that the other three had made it through the pass and were veering off to the southeast. He also spotted another squadron of earthbenders with eelhounds who managed to evade Trowa and took off after them. Heero didn't concern himself – Duo had proved to be a competent warrior, Wufei carried strength about him like a mantle, and Quatre was clever. If they could not defeat a few dozen opponents of this caliber, they would not still be alive.

A scream cut into his thoughts and he watched as one of the non-benders was tossed unbelievably high by Trowa's airbending as he had rushed in from behind. Trowa turned to meet another enemy but Heero caught something in the set of his shoulders, in the tension of his motions, that suggested the blankness of his mask was not echoed in his mind. It was another benefit of the metallic disguise – beyond their identities, it ensured that their true feelings were concealed as well.

Heero wondered if killing made Trowa as heartsick as it made him.

A cry from above drew Heero's attention. He knocked the nearest of his enemies away to look upwards, spotting Wing circling high above. The messenger hawks had been trained not to interrupt a battle, but the presence of Wing here now meant a message of such import that it could not wait for the quiet. Heero pulled a pillar of earth straight up beneath him, bringing him to a point towering above everyone else, and held out an arm for Wing's perch. Thankfully, the bird bore the message in one of the large tubes across its back, which was much easier to access in a hurry than the littler, more common carriers affixed to the leg.

Heero pulled out the message even as he tossed Wing back into the air and sent a portion of his earthen tower crashing back to the ground in the faces of a few firebenders who thought to burn him from below. He unrolled the scroll with one hand and read the short message in a single glance.

" _It is_ _time_ _. Seal the pass first._ "

Heero dropped the scroll even as something dark and ugly settled into his stomach but he ignored any sensation except that which focused his bending to its truest heights. Now heedless of further attacks against his person, he turned to the dip in the low mountain and _reached_.

The top of the ridge exploded in a shower of house-sized boulders that rolled into the pass like thunder scattering clouds through the sky. Heero's body felt thin and brittle from pushing his bending beyond its normal limits, and this time it was aided by a sinking, screaming feeling inside. It felt as though all his bones were breaking at once, as if his bending were ripping them from inside his flesh and turning them to dust.

But his feelings didn't matter. Heero had earthbent the _entire_ mountain ridge and the pass was obliterated.

"Mission accepted," he croaked out.

He never even noticed the slab of stone that struck him from the tower as he fell into darkness.

-==OOO==-

"Mission accepted."

Trowa turned at the coldness in the words in time to see Heero falling. He didn't even stop to think – he just _moved_. A leap carried him high above his attackers, and from there it was second-nature to carry himself with the air and momentum towards Heero, but he could not intercept him in time.

The earthbender struck the ground with a sick sort of finality, his mask snapping loose. Blood leaked from a wound on the back of his head and his eyes were wide and unseeing.

Trowa felt something awful twist in his heart even as he pulled Heero under his arm and gathered an enormous swirl of wind to lift them up and away.

The mask of Soldier was left in the dirt like a gravestone.

-==OOO==-

"Spirit!"

Wufei turned to see Duo hunched over where the yellow-haired fighter had suddenly collapsed between one running stride and the next. He was clutching his chest and for a moment Wufei feared he had been struck by one of the earthbenders' knives or stones – the black-clad fighters seemed keen to throw anything earthy at the trio. Wufei blasted a torrent of fire towards their opponents and took advantage of their momentary pause while they dismounted their eelhounds to join the other two. Quatre had yanked his mask up on his head and was gulping air as though drowning.

"What's happened?" he demanded, seeing the paleness of Quatre's face but no blood on his hands.

"I don't know," Duo replied.

"It's Heero," Quatre gasped. He looked at them both and his eyes were desperate, lit almost fanatically. "He's in trouble, terrible danger. We've got to help him! We've got to…"

But the next instant, he had lurched to his feet and flung himself across Wufei, pulling the firebender to the ground. He made only a sub-vocal grunt when the metallic projectile, a wicked throwing-dagger, glanced off his shoulder – but had he not moved, Wufei might not have escaped a fatal blow. The pair had barely even struck the dirt before Duo was up and flinging his own daggers with deadly accuracy to remove the threat.

"Looks like these guys are getting ready for a real fight," he reported, eyeing the earthbenders.

"We've got to get to Soldier," Quatre said, disentangling himself from Wufei and wincing as he drew his injured arm to his chest. He was more collected now, enough to remember to use the codename instead of the real one, even pulling the mask back on fully. "He'll die if we don't hurry."

"How do you even know that?" Duo wanted to know.

"It doesn't matter," Wufei said, getting to his own feet and taking a position back-to-back with him. "Spirit has just saved my life and trusting him in this is what I owe him." He flicked a glance to Quatre. "I'm the fastest if I go alone."

"Do it," Quatre agreed. He gripped Wufei's arm with his good hand. "He and No-Name will need your help to survive their escape. Then get to Gundam Island as fast as you can – there's a healer there you can trust if you give them my name. We'll meet you there."

"A different meeting place?" The surprise was clear in the firebender's voice.

"It's safer there," was the answer. "We'll need a secure place."

"Are you strong enough to handle this?" Wufei's eyes flicked over the array of earthbenders who were digging themselves into a circular position around them.

"Believe me, we got this," Duo said savagely. "Go get those guys already. Tell Soldier if he dies, I'll kill him."

Wufei nodded once, shared a blazing look with the two of them that was clear in spite of the masks, and took off running. He leaped over the head of a surprised earthbender and dropped into the saddle of the eelhound tethered nearby. A jet of flame set the creature free and Wufei turned it towards the city. He never looked back as the eelhound bounded into a full sprint and disappeared.

"Sure this was a good idea?" Duo asked Quatre, almost playfully. "Not that I'm doubting you, of course."

"I'm sure. Soldier can't die. We need him too much," Quatre replied. He rotated his shoulders and moved into the spot at Duo's back that Wufei had abandoned. "How many are there?"

"Not more than thirty."

"How long until you can bloodbend again?"

"A little while. I'm as much a non-bender as you right now," Duo said, rolling to one side, with Quatre following him to evade a crush of stone. "Got a plan?"

Quatre spared a moment to grin darkly even though it was hidden behind the visage of the Blue Spirit, still keeping an eye on the earthbenders who were now moving closer as their confidence grew. "Always."


	13. Suffered Losses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A cold shiver went down Wufei's spine. To bend so much earth, to move a mountain, was the sort of exertion that had killed foolish benders throughout the ages as their hearts and minds simply stopped from the effort.
> 
> "If he still lives after that," he said to himself, "he may be an earthbender like few I've ever studied."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm tossing around the idea of upping the posting schedule to twice a week instead of once. See, the deal I made with myself a couple of years ago was to always have a new chapter or oneshot going up at least once a week – it keeps me focused and I don't let myself just stop writing. But now, between this story, 3 oneshots, and the next of my twisted fairytales that I finished a month ago, I've got enough material that, even before the oneshots series that will follow Tears of Revelry I have something to post every weekend all the way to the end of 2014! And that seems kind of ridiculous. On the other hand, if I up the posting schedule and then get busy or stuck, I might run out and that would kind of break my heart.
> 
> What do you guys think? Opinions? Do you like it once a week or would you prefer more? Those of you who are reading this story get all the votes – you're the ones keeping me going every day I add to the next story in my cycle of creativity.
> 
> Anyway, on with this tale. Our boys have some tough times ahead.
> 
> Enjoy!

Trowa had to stop after a pretty short distance – airbenders couldn't actually fly, no matter what the rumors said, not without a glider or a bison. But his fast, long leaping was enough to evade the black-clad benders who might have tried to follow. He dropped into a bushy tree, letting the branches slow his fall as he bounced off them. Heero, thrown over a shoulder, never even moved.

"I've got to get farther away," Trowa said to himself as they came to rest at the base of the trunk. He pulled off his mask and checked to make sure Heero was still breathing, which he was, but he was also still bleeding.

Remembering an old trick from his days on the road, Trowa pulled up a portion of moss. He pressed it against the back of Heero's head and then drew in breath. When he blew out, airbending as he went, he cooled the air significantly. The moss became hard as the water inside the plants froze, and the whole mat of it adhered itself to the back of Heero's head, freezing to his hair. He blew on it once more to chill it further, then tore a strip from his shirt and bound it in place. The cold would help stop the flow of blood as well as bring down the swelling.

Assuming Heero survived long enough to care about swelling.

Trowa again hoisted Heero onto his shoulder and began walking briskly through the undergrowth. He had to get away from the site of the battle, far enough that he would not be followed. After that, it depended on what happened to Heero. He had no way of finding the others if they missed their rendezvous. And he certainly wasn't going to go _towards_ the forces arrayed against him. He felt a crawling fear rise up in his stomach and pushed it down firmly. His feelings were immaterial. He needed to be disconnected and serene.

But he did wonder why exactly he was so bothered. The earthbender was an ally, certainly, but that wasn't reason enough for it to shake him as much as it had; Soldier was a stranger, and yet he felt the same sense of being drawn in that he had with Wufei and Quatre and Cathy before them.

Before he could ponder it more, there was a crashing in the brush behind him. Trowa tasted the air – many people, all coming his way.

He shifted Heero slightly in his grip and pushed air beneath and behind him to speed away.

-==OOO==-

"Heads up, Spirit!" Duo yelled.

Quatre spun where he stood, shotels flashing in the dusky sunset light, knocking a stone out of the air. He followed it up with a whirling slash that yanked the attacking earthbender's legs out from under him. Before the bender's head had hit the ground, Quatre had knocked him out with the hilt of one shotel.

"Nice!" Duo cheered. The waterbender had not regained his ability to bloodbend, but they hadn't really seemed to need it. Both Duo and Quatre were adept at hand-to-hand fighting, and by getting up close and personal with the earthbenders, they had negated a lot of their opponents' advantage. It was much harder, after all, to chuck rocks at someone who was a finger's width from your face.

"Hey, Shinigami," Quatre called, stepping into the space of another earthbender and neatly upending him, "how about a lift?" He crossed his shotels expectantly.

"Yeah!"

Duo smashed the point of his elbow into one guy's throat, dropping him, and ran up. With lithe grace, the braided waterbender stepped onto the crossed shotels and pushed off just as Quatre flung him upwards with all his strength. Duo gained height normally left to airbenders, and as he spun crazily through the air, he flung everything he'd picked up along the course of the battle – throwing knives he'd caught in midair, small daggers, even a few sharp stones fashioned by earthbenders into makeshift arrowheads. He was like a flower bursting with pollen, except in his case that pollen was deadly. By the time Duo landed, more than half their remaining opponents were down.

"I think we better wrap this up," Duo commented. "Saw something from up there."

"I know," Quatre replied as he again moved to stand back-to-back with his ally. "Most of the force the others were holding off is heading our way, with only a few following No-Name and Soldier. We're going to have half an army on top of us soon."

"Where are these guys coming from? What's the point of it?"

"I'm not sure yet."

Quatre stepped forward a pace to knock a small stone from the air, but he had to dodge to the left to evade a larger boulder, and when he came up rolling he hissed at the pain in his shoulder from the injury he'd taken protecting Wufei. He'd been ignoring it successfully, but jamming it into the ground reminded him that Heero wasn't the only one who probably needed a healer.

"So what's the plan?" Duo asked, filling in the gap in Quatre's defense while he got back to his feet by picking up a sword and throwing it like a spear.

"Well..." The idea came to him all in a flash. And while Quatre might have cringed behind his mask at the coldness of it, Spirit did not hesitate. "Be ready to disappear into the trees," he said quietly.

"You got it."

There were only a handful of guards left and among them only one earthbender, but the ground was rumbling from the approach of the others. If the remaining ambushers got much closer, Quatre knew he and Duo wouldn't be able to run faster than they could be followed by someone with a strong earth sense. He needed to stop the fight long enough for them to put some real distance between themselves and their enemies.

And the handful of enemies already present were all in one formation off to the side and needed only be distracted.

Quatre let out a high, fierce whistle and a form dropped to his arm from above. He spared only the tiniest second to run a hand over the feathered head he knew so well before he gave Sandrock his last command and threw the messenger hawk at the attackers.

"Come on!" he shouted, grabbing Duo's arm and pulling. With the sun nearly set, they could vanish in the long shadows of the trees within moments.

"But!" Duo couldn't help hesitating. Quatre had just thrown his hawk, his means of communicating with the Order as well as what was probably a very well-liked pet and friend, into the arms of killers who would not hesitate to execute the bird. But Sandrock was strong and loyal, and the hawk was making good use of his talons and broad wings, blocking their enemies and ensuring an escape.

"I know," Quatre tugged at Duo again. "Believe me, I _know_. But we have to get out of here. We have to get to Gundam Island. If I could have thought of anything else..."

"It's okay," Duo turned his arm in the grip that held him and latched onto Quatre's elbow. "They're so busy dealing with your buddy, we're going to survive this. I hate to say it, but it's worth it."

"I know," Quatre said again. He cringed as there was a high, keening shriek from behind them, and then nothing.

They continued to run.

-==OOO==-

Wufei was never so grateful for his experience tracking his cantankerous old uncle across the world as he was that evening. A lifetime of seeking a man who distinctly did not want to be found had given the firebender a unique sense for anticipating the movements of someone evading others. He had already tried whistling for Shenlong, who could have located Trowa from the air and led the way, but his hawk must have been detained somehow.

It didn't matter very much; Wufei had only to glance at the site of the battle outside the cliffs of Republic City to learn which direction Trowa had gone, Heero presumably with him. It seemed that whatever opponents remained had taken off in a wild stampede, making no attempt to hide their movements as they pursued the airbender. Wufei needed only track them and then get ahead of them.

But he was brought up short looking at the cliff itself. What had once been a narrow pass between two ridges that were part hills and part natural barricades for the city had been utterly closed. A cold shiver went down Wufei's spine. To bend so much earth, to move a mountain, was the sort of exertion that had killed foolish benders throughout the ages as their hearts and minds simply _stopped_ from the effort.

"If he still lives after that," he said to himself, "he may be an earthbender like few I've ever studied."

Wufei turned the eelhound and dug his heels into its flanks, spurring it forward with a bound. In moments he was moving across the ground as quickly as the wind.

It took less time than Wufei would have expected to reach his adversaries until he realized that the group of them had only a few eelhounds between them – it seemed most of the mounted troops had instead broken off to converge on Quatre and Duo's position. That simplified Wufei's situation but he immediately wondered if leaving two non-benders behind was going to result in their deaths.

So perhaps his lance of fire to sear and strike down the other eelhounds before him was sharper than usual. He called flame into the air and aimed for the animal's rider first, then its head. With the four mounted opponents he encountered, he only ended up having to maim one of the eelhounds as the others reared or their riders fell off, rendering them no threat at all. Those on foot who chased after Trowa and Heero were easy enough to contain by setting fire alight on the ground all around them – by the time they escaped his inferno, he would be far ahead of them.

At last Shenlong appeared, winging out of the sky with a cry. He landed on Wufei's arm only long enough for the firebender to establish that there was no message waiting for him. Then he gave his curt order to find Trowa and the hawk was away. When Wufei spotted Shenlong in the air alongside another messenger hawk, this one familiar, he needed no further direction. He and his eelhound were off like lightning into the undergrowth.

"Nataku!"

The cry was pitched low, but Wufei heard it anyway and slowed. The familiar face, without its mask, popped up from within a thick clump of bushes. Leaves stuck out of the brown hair, putting Trowa's appearance at odds with the seriousness of his expression.

"Is he alive?" Wufei asked.

"Yes," Trowa replied, lifting himself with air, Heero across his shoulders, until he stood clear of the bushes. "But he needs more help than I can give him."

"Come on," Wufei leaned down, offering a hand. Trowa did not hesitate, pulling himself up onto the back of the eelhound and shifting Heero so that the earthbender was locked between them, his head falling back onto Trowa's shoulder.

"Where will we go?" Trowa asked.

Wufei removed his own mask, stowing it in the bag that hung at the eelhound's side. A quick glance told him that his mount had been carrying some basic provisions but nothing particularly valuable.

"Quatre told me to take you to Gundam Island," Wufei answered, turning the eelhound to the north and urging it to a quick trot rather than its usual sprint. "I confess, I don't know where that is."

"You don't?" Trowa was surprised. "The Order confirmed its location in my last set of instructions."

"Well, I don't always acknowledge all their petty orders," Wufei grumbled. "Where is it?"

"It's a small island in the archipelago between the mountains that house the Western Air Temple and the Fire Nation to the south," Trowa explained.

"There is no island there," Wufei shook his head, visualizing his well-worn maps of the Fire Nation in his mind. "Unless you mean the old Boiling Rock prison."

"No, I don't. There _wasn't_ an island there, but there is now," Trowa shrugged. "The Order created it as a secret place for those of us who might need it. Gundam Island isn't on a map and has never been shared with outsiders. The airbenders in the area know about it, of course, but don't really care."

"Created it?"

"Don't ask me how," Trowa shrugged again. "I'm not an earthbender."

"Speaking of which," Wufei urged the eelhound to move more quickly, "how are we going to get him there?"

"Don't eelhounds swim?"

"Obviously," Wufei sneered. "But unless you can tell me you know exactly where it is, I don't want to sit on this thing swimming around in the middle of the ocean until it tires and we all drown."

"I do know where it is," Trowa returned with an amused snort, "but not well enough to navigate from in the water without a map. You're right. We'll have to get a ride or come in another way."

Wufei shifted on the eelhound, feeling the odd stillness of the earthbender behind him. He frowned. Allies or not, this was a true warrior. He should not die this way, even if it was an honorable sacrifice, and Wufei was not certain he could prevent it. At best pace, it would take the eelhound more than a day, possibly two, to get to this island healer. He wondered if it would be enough.

"When we get close," Trowa spoke up again, "I'll take care of transport."

"Very well."

Wufei urged the eelhound to its top speed and stared fixedly at the horizon. He could only go forward and hope that the earthbender proved to be strong enough to remain with them.

It was past the following dawn when they stopped for the first time, long enough to acquire some real provisions and re-bandage Heero's wound. The blood had finally slowed, but he was no closer to returning to consciousness. Trowa suggested they continue on to the west, noting that the closer they were to the Western Air Temple, the more likely they were to come across some nomads or someone he might know. And nomads in this part of the world tended to travel by air rather than land.

As they passed into the truly remote eastern edge of the continent, Trowa sent Heavyarms ahead looking for an ally. The hawk returned several times over the course of the morning before at last he came bearing a message.

"What does it say?" Wufei asked, taking the opportunity to stop and stretch. Eelhounds were well-designed for travel but no one's legs were really designed to hold still like that for so long.

"She'll help us."

Which is how Wufei came to make the acquaintance of Catherine. The circus Trowa had joined had been heading towards the Western Air Temple anyway, and not only did Trowa know and trust the troupe enough to return to them, but he knew something else: they had with them one of the rare remaining sky bison.

"Trowa!" Catherine smiled brightly as the eelhound came to a stop. The circus had set up for the night in a low valley, so they had agreed to meet above the ridge, out of sight of the camp. "Are you all right?"

"Yes," he answered, swinging down from the eelhound's back and carefully sliding Heero to the ground. "But he's not. I need to borrow Triton." But his purposeful words belied the softness of his expression, and when Catherine opened her arms, Trowa stepped into them for a fierce, brief hug.

"Oh. Sure," Catherine took in the unconscious Heero in a swift glance and then looked to where Wufei was stroking the eelhound's head. "Is this your friend?"

"Yes," Wufei affirmed, daring Trowa to contradict him. "Wufei."

"I'm Catherine, but you can call me Cathy if you like," she smiled. "I'm glad to know Trowa's got more than one person in the world he can trust."

The two benders exchanged an unreadable glance.

"Triton will be glad to see you again too," Cathy continued easily. "He likes you. Of course he does."

"Triton?"

"He was my brother's sky bison," she turned to Wufei, her face falling slightly. "When my brother was killed, he stayed with me. He performs with us sometimes, when he feels like it. He only really likes me and Trowa."

"How soon can we go?" Trowa asked, and though the question was abrupt his face was still soft as he said it.

"Right now," she answered. "Triton's already saddled and all, and he's not going to be needed for a while. Sometimes when we're in this area he just wanders off, so nobody will even need to know you took him."

"Thank you, Cathy," Trowa said, meeting her eyes. "There's nobody else I would want to ask. Nobody else I _could_ ask."

"I know," she said softly. The she whistled brightly. Within moments the huge, gracefully-lumbering form of a sky bison appeared, landing easily. Trowa stepped forward and the great beast immediately passed his enormous tongue over the airbender. Upon seeing the furry, large-toothed creature, the eelhound tried to run, but Wufei held its reins tightly. He stroked its head until it stopped fighting him, then he turned to the girl, sharp black eyes taking in her clear eyes, her purple clothing, her agile build. But mostly the fond way she watched Trowa and Triton. He made a decision.

"Keep him," he said, holding out the lead. "We may need him again, and I'd rather he be with someone we could trust. He's smart and very good at what he does."

"Oh!" she took the reins and looked into the eelhound's intelligent face, running her hands over his nose gently. "I can do that. If you're sure, that is."

"He's only been mine for a few days," Wufei said vaguely. "I'm not attached to him. And he can't come with us anyway."

"Okay. We could always use him, and he'll eat less than Triton does anyway. Does he have a name?"

"Call him whatever you want."

"We're ready," Trowa reported, having finally extricated himself from the bison's affections and checking the brightly-colored saddle. He called up a gust of wind to lift Heero and deposit him on the saddle. Wufei took their sack of supplies from the eelhound and bowed politely to Catherine.

"Thank you," he said stiffly.

"Just take care of each other," she replied, her face a little drawn and tight as she looked at Trowa. But she only waved as Triton took off, Trowa seated comfortably on his head.

Heavyarms and Shenlong both winged in, sitting primly beside one another on the saddle's edge. The hawk that must have belonged to Heero, though they did not know its name, stopped its incessant circling, which it had been doing since Heero's fall outside the city, and landed beside them, squawking defiantly. Wufei wrapped one of the flowing pieces of brocade that was meant for decoration around Heero. They flew in silence until the sun was low in the sky. Wufei was tempted to ask Trowa about the girl, about why the bison liked him in particular (or was it just part of being an airbender?), but kept his thoughts to himself.

"There," Trowa pointed. In the middle of the water, a perfectly round piece of land emerged from the dusky falling dark. It was as though a mountain had risen from the sea and then been flattened until it was a disc that seemed almost to float. A few spots of light suggested people and settlements.

"Have you been here before?" Wufei asked.

"No. But Quatre said there was a healer we could trust if we gave his name, right? We'll start there."

"If it is, as you say, part of the Order, we should not be in danger while we are here," Wufei said thoughtfully. But somehow his heart felt uneasy, and a glance at Trowa told him the airbender was equally cautious.

They touched down on the beach, near a source of some of the firelight seen from above. Triton had barely just settled his feet in the sand when the door of the nearest house opened and two figures emerged. One was a woman, tall and elegant, her hair a particularly delicate color of brown painted gold in the vanishing sunlight. The other was a man not much taller than the boys, his black beard and mustache carefully combed. Both wore clothing far more fine than anything homespun.

"Who are you?" the man demanded suspiciously. "Why are you here?"

"Quatre sent us," Wufei spoke up, tension in his whole body. "He said we could trust whoever we found. We need a healer."

"Prove it." The woman crossed her arms, her blue eyes glittering. "Prove you know Quatre and didn't just steal one of his messages."

"Quatre's hawk is called Sandrock," Trowa answered evenly. "And he wears a mask of the Blue Spirit, colored in grey. He shelters with men called the Maganacs, and they call him Master Quatre."

Wufei's eyes widened in surprised curiosity but he said nothing. The man and woman relaxed almost at once.

"You must need help," the woman said, moving forward. "Quatre wouldn't have sent you to me without it being serious."

"Are _you_ a healer?" Wufei glanced at her finery.

"Yes, of course," she said, tossing her head. "Who is injured?"

"Here," Trowa stood and carefully let himself down from Triton, Heero still and unmoving in his arms. "He was hit with a boulder more than a day ago, and he may have exhausted himself bending."

"You must all be masks like Quatre for him to bring you to us," the man said, offering a bow to Wufei who had also descended. "Please forgive our rudeness. Even among the Order, we do not trust lightly. My name is Sada. This," he gestured to the woman who was already running her hands over Heero, "is Iria Raberba, Quatre's oldest sister. Welcome to Gundam Island, sanctuary to the White Lotus."


	14. Find Me Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "All right, everybody give," Duo said, sitting forward and looking at the faces around the fire.
> 
> "What do you mean by that?" Wufei raised an eyebrow.
> 
> "We had a close thing the other day, and part of that was because we don't really know what we all can do," he answered simply. "Maybe we wouldn't have gotten split up like that if knew how to fight like a team."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Funny thing – one of the bits of this chapter was the fourth thing I ever wrote on this story. The first bit I wrote was the prologue, and the second bit was the epilogue. The third will come later, but the fourth was here. What can I say? Sometimes the story I write has a couple of moments that burn so brightly in my imagination that I have to capture them or I can't think about anything else.
> 
> Also, thanks everyone for voting about whether I should post more frequently. You guys are awesome! I think what'll happen is sometimes I'll post mid-week and sometimes I won't for the duration of this story. Then, I'll reserve weekends for the next multi-chapter work and use mid-week for the oneshots that will follow in this universe. How's that?
> 
> But here's the exception – if I ever leave off a chapter on a horrible cliff-hanger (and trust me, I do), you can ask for an early chapter. I'm not sure I can deny you guys anything. I'm not sure I want to. Your feedback is all the validation I could ever ask for.
> 
> This is for you! Enjoy!

Darkness. Quiet. Emptiness. Stillness.

Then there was a tiny point of light and that change was enough to make more things apparent. It was strangely cold, airless, soundless, and Heero didn't seem to have a body to feel with, but he could still tell that he would be cold. He was not really aware that he was present at all, just dreaming or taking in what was around him.

The point of light approached and changed into a mushroom.

That was unexpected enough for Heero to be surprised into curiosity. The mushroom came closer and closer, and Heero found himself wanting to reach for it.

So he did.

And then he was no longer cold.

-==OOO==-

"How is he?"

Iria looked up from where she had rarely left the side of her patient in the last day. Wufei regarded her coolly.

"He's improving. I just got him to take some soup with a few strong compounds and healing agents in it. I'm not completely sure why he isn't waking up yet, but he's certainly doing better than he was when you brought him here."

"Have you tried healing him?" Wufei raised an eyebrow.

"That's what I'm doing," Iria replied sharply.

"No, I mean with waterbending."

"I'm not a waterbender," she shook her head. "I heal in the old ways, not by swishing some magic water around a body and hoping it pieces things together correctly."

"I did not intend to offend you," Wufei said stiffly, chastised. "It would be dishonorable of me to speak ill of your hard work when you have given us much and asked for nothing in return."

"I don't need anything from you," Iria replied. "I'm not here for you, but I'm glad to help when I can."

She turned her back on the firebender, and Wufei began to prepare to rail at her for her dismissal, but movement caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. Trowa stood beside the man called Sada, both waving him over. Wufei let out a gusty, disapproving huff and walked through the curtained doorway to where the other two had been sitting on the porch of the house.

"Is firebending the only way to craft metal?" Sada asked, taking up his seat again and holding a cup of steaming tea in his hands.

"Of course not," Wufei answered, scowling.

"Then why assume that all healing is done with waterbending?"

Wufei chose not to respond to that and answered instead. "Even if I was mistaken, there was no call for her to be so impolite. I was asking after Heero."

"She's worried about Quatre," Sada said. "We haven't heard from him since before the battle you came from. It isn't like him not to send Sandrock ahead."

"Do you think something happened to him and Duo?" Trowa found himself asking.

"I can't be certain," Sada replied. "I believe that if Quatre were able, he would have sent a message to us by now, if for no other reason than to confirm your identities, and the fact that he has not done so is...unsettling. On the other hand, there are many reasons he might not have been able to contact us, and not all of those are so dire." The man's dark eyes glinted with the suddenness of his smile. "I am choosing to trust in Quatre."

"And us?" Wufei asked.

"I have already confirmed your identities through the Order," Sada said. "Though I would rather hear it from Quatre himself, I am willing to believe my contacts."

"Quatre is more reliable than the rest of the Order?" Trowa was skeptical.

"I imagine you all are," Sada looked amused. "Why should I trust the word of what is at heart a club of old men who rarely trouble themselves to look outside their own front doorstep? No, too much of the Order of the White Lotus is made up by people who only know what they knew fifty years ago, and care less about what is true now than about trying to hide that ignorance. I'll take Quatre's word, and yours, before anything I hear from the Order. And so should you."

"Agreed," Wufei nodded curtly. "I have long found the Order to be unreliable."

"You can trust they believe what they tell you," Sada agreed, "but do not believe that what they tell you is something you should trust."

"Are you telling us we should not obey our instructions from the Order?" Trowa asked.

"Yes," Wufei said, but Sada shook his head.

"Not exactly. I think you should look to yourselves first, and then listen to the Order. Even me," and he smiled a little wryly. "I'm not much better than the rest, but at least I know not to pretend to be wise."

"You sound like Quatre," Trowa quirked a smile.

"Thank you," Sada bowed his head. "I tried to teach him, but truthfully he did the teaching. You would think that as his elder he would be beholden to me, but truly it is the other way around. You've met the Maganacs. Why else would they follow him so loyally when he is at least half the age of their former leader Rashid?"

"And here I thought it was because you have more money than the Earth King, Cattie!"

All three turned in surprise, peering out into the darkness of the night. In the flickering torchlight they could make out two figures approaching: Duo walked with his hands folded behind his head, his face laughing, and Quatre nudged his shoulder with an elbow before quickening his stride.

"I'm glad you made it here safely, you two! And I'm so sorry I didn't send you a message, Sada," he said, stepping onto the porch and making a deep bow. "I...couldn't. And Rashid doesn't have any birds with him right now that know you."

"Well, we'll have to fix that," Sada had risen and bowed to the boy before reaching up to grip his shoulders with a smile. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, sir."

"Quatre, don't lie," Wufei frowned. "I can see you favoring the arm still."

"If my brother actually admitted to an injury short of death," Iria appeared on the porch, "I'd know he'd lost his mind. Come here, boy."

Quatre grinned and stepped into her waiting embrace. "Hi Iria. Thank you for taking care of my friends."

"Nice to see you guys again," Duo greeted Wufei and Trowa politely. "What did we miss?" Then his smile faltered. "Is Heero...?"

"He's alive," Iria confirmed, looking down at Quatre. "He's not waking up yet, but he's going to be okay. Good thing you sent him here, though, little brother. He was in a bad way."

"I want to see him," Quatre said.

"Well, _I_ want to look at your arm," Iria put a hand on the back of his neck, "so let's go do both at once."

"Trowa, Wufei," Quatre looked back over his shoulder as he was led away, "I'll see you in a bit."

"So you're the last of them, eh?" Sada looked over Duo. "Let me guess. Waterbender?"

"How do you people do that?" Duo scowled. "Yeah, kinda. Who are you anyway, or should I just call you Nosy Old Man?"

Sada threw back his head and laughed. "Oh, you'll do! My name is Sada."

"He's a friend of Quatre's," Trowa added.

"How did you get here, anyway?" Wufei wanted to know.

"Oh! OwlCat apparently knows everybody," Duo plopped down on a cushion and reached for the plate beside the teapot that held a pile of fruit. "After we got out of our little fight, we went back to the city and picked up all our stuff and yours too. And then Cat went and met up with the Maganacs again. They had a ship and got a couple of waterbenders to come along to get us here quicker."

"If I may ask," Sada raised a finger, "why couldn't Quatre send his messenger hawk to me?"

"Oh," and Duo's face fell again. "Sandrock got us out of our fight, but we haven't seen him since. We...kinda had to leave him with a bunch of crazy soldiers. He was the reason we survived to escape."

"I see."

They sat in silence for an unknown length of time, eating and looking out at the dark sky spotted with stars, until Sada stood.

"I believe Iria should be nearly finished caring for Quatre. We will leave you the house for the night. It is Quatre's anyway and it would be rude for us to remain now that he is here to claim it. Iria and I each have our own places on the island, and I believe Iria could do with some rest – she hasn't slept since she began looking after that earthbender. We won't be far if you need us. But it seems to me you would prefer some time on your own."

Sada made them all a bow before turning to head into the house. The three remaining benders exchanged a glance before rising to follow.

"You've got good timing," Iria was saying as they entered.

The room seemed a little small with all seven people in it, the fire burning in the center grate sending shadows gliding back behind each person. Iria stood over Quatre, who was shirtless as she bound bandages around his arm and part of his shoulder. Quatre sat on the chair Iria had been using at Heero's bedside, and unexpectedly, the boy had his hand on Heero's forearm.

Even more unexpectedly, Heero's eyes had drifted open.

"He's waking up," Quatre reported. "I think he'll still need rest for a while, but he's definitely coming out of it now."

"All set," Iria tied off the last bandage. "I can see from Sada's face that he's going to drag me off to sleep," she handed her brother his shirt with a wry smile at the old man, "but you can send someone for me if you need anything. Otherwise, I'll see you all tomorrow morning for breakfast. Sleep well, all of you."

She nodded at the five boys once before taking the arm Sada offered her and following him out the door.

"All better, Cattie?" Duo bounced over, looking more at Heero than Quatre.

"Yes. Iria just wants me to keep it from moving for a little while," he struggled to get his arm through his sleeve with his shoulder bandaged, but eventually managed it.

"And Heero's okay?"

"Yes, Duo," Quatre smiled, his face displaying a little weariness but no guile, "he's okay."

"Sada said we were to stay here tonight," Wufei said.

"Um, yes, if you want," Quatre reddened a little. "It's my house, and you're welcome for as long as you wish to stay. If nothing else, this is about the safest place there is. It's not like the Order of the Black Lotus is going to find us here."

"Very well," Wufei pulled a cushion over towards the fire and took a seat. "I will accept your hospitality."

"Me too!" Duo bounced. He found a chair in a corner and dragged it over, making a terrible scraping sound as he did so, but that only seemed to entertain him.

Trowa said nothing but nodded once at Quatre before folding his long legs and sitting on the bare floor. When Quatre sank to the rug, with Heero in the bed they made a rough circle around the brazier.

"All right, everybody give," Duo said, sitting forward and looking at the faces around the fire.

"What do you mean by that?" Wufei raised an eyebrow.

"We had a close thing the other day, and part of that was because we don't really know what we all can do," he answered simply. "Maybe we wouldn't have gotten split up like that if knew how to fight like a team. Besides, it isn't like we have anything better to do, and some of us just met."

"He's correct," Trowa put in. "We will be at a disadvantage if we do not make the most efficient use of all our skills. If we continue to get identical orders, we will likely need to work together again."

"I'll even start," Duo volunteered. There was laughter in his voice, but his face was serious. "I'm a waterbender, obviously. But, really, I'm not very good at it. I'm much better at bloodbending." He smiled wickedly. "They call me Shinigami because they think I'm the spirit of death. I can stop a person's heart in their chest or make them do whatever I want. And I don't have to wait for a full moon like other waterbenders, either, but when I do, then I can control a whole bunch of people at once."

"How is that even possible?" Wufei demanded.

"Well…it's kinda like this. I never had a waterbending master to teach me, but I did meet one of those guys who can deal with the energy in the body. He taught me how to change the energy in my own body. We figured out that I could change my waterbending ability by using pressure points."

"That's…ingenious," Trowa breathed.

"So I'm never gonna move a whole ocean or something, and I'm not a healer, kinda the opposite. But if you need somebody down, hard and fast and silent, I'm your guy." Duo sat back. "Figured you should know so I don't freak you out when you see me doing it next time."

"I am a firebender," Wufei spoke next. "I am superb at both bending and non-bending forms of combat. I have never mastered lightning, however." The admission left him scowling. "I am also particularly knowledgeable about the theory of bending, not just fire but all elements, and the spirit realm. I was…carefully taught."

When it was apparent he would say nothing else, Trowa looked up. "I am an airbender, but I'm not a true Air Nomad, never have been. I have killed people before and I will do so again. I have also learned to incorporate my airbending into my acrobatics, and therefore can defeat some master airbenders in combat, even without the glider. I've never had one."

"What about the arrows?" Duo asked. "You got them?"

"Yes," Trowa raised a hand and pulled back his long bangs. The tip of the airbending tattoo that was tradition for an airbender having mastered his element could be seen. "Got them a few years ago."

"But your hands…?" Quatre asked.

"I wasn't living with the Air Nomads at the time," Trowa shrugged. "I've always moved around, so you run into lots of airbenders, but I didn't spend a lot of time in the temples. When the master I'd met decided I had earned them, he didn't have enough ink. They only come to here." He pulled up the long sleeves he wore even in the warmth of the night. His forearm was mostly bare, but between the elbow and shoulder was the arrow that should have been on the back of his hand. "My feet are the same way."

"That's useful for sneaking around in disguise," Duo said. "With that hair, you don't look like an airbender at all."

"Exactly," Trowa smiled secretly. "I'm pretty good at infiltration too."

When it was obvious he had nothing else to add, the three looked to the yellow-haired one in their midst, but Quatre was instead turned and looking at Heero. There was something slightly uncomfortable in the set of his shoulders, and when he shifted and returned back to his place, he evaded their eyes.

"So…OwlCat, what about you?" Duo broke the awkwardness brightly.

"I'm…you already know I'm not a bender," Quatre said after a few moments of everyone looking at him. "I don't have any elemental abilities. But I have lots of resources, even beyond the help of the Maganacs, in the Order and on my own. And I think I might have had a similar education to Wufei," he nodded at the firebender, "because I, too, know quite a bit about the theory of bending and also the spirit world. I'm adept at multiple forms of combat, and I'm a trained strategist. There is no battle I cannot turn, if not outright win." This he said with pride.

"How did you know about what had befallen Heero?" Wufei asked.

"Oh. Um," Quatre ran a hand through his hair. "I may not be a bender like the rest of you, but I do have…something. I can sense things, feel what people are feeling. It's part of why I have such a good awareness of spirits. It's…I don't really understand it."

"Man, that's great!" Duo slung an arm around him. "It's like bending with people's heads. What's it called? Heartbending?"

Quatre made a disgusted face and glared.

"That sounds like a child's invention," Wufei said reproachfully.

"It's called empathy, and it isn't bending," Trowa put in. "It's rare, like the gift of prophecy, but not unheard of."

Quatre shot him a grateful look.

"What about him? Should we wake him or…?" Trowa began, eyes sliding towards the prone earthbender. But Heero sat up.

"I hear you. And I'm awake. And if you fuss over me again you will regret it," he pinned the others with a baleful expression, eyes lingering on Quatre. "I am an earthbender. And I am the best metalbender since Master Toph herself. I was trained by Sifu Odin, who was Avatar Yuy's lifelong rival. I can still sense the earth while enclosed in wood, even if I cannot bend it."

"Better than Master Toph?" Wufei raised an eyebrow. "That's quite a boast."

"But true," Heero met his eyes unflinchingly, "in every way but one. I cannot necessarily tell when someone is lying by the feel of the earth. A blatant and foolish lie, yes, but I could also determine that by looking at them."

"Too bad," Quatre commented. "If you could read truth in situations where it isn't obvious to us, we'd be better balanced. As it happens, I usually can because of my empathy."

"Wait," Wufei put in. "It is generally accepted that Master Toph developed metalbending by being able to sense the earth and applying those senses to metal. If you are weak at using your seismic sense to read people, how are you an accomplished metalbender of her status?"

"Theory in the middle of the night?" Duo whined. "Really?"

"It's a fair question," Trowa pointed out. "Plus, you started it." He gave a small smile and received an eye-roll in return.

"Because I can feel the earth, I know the earth well. People are different." Heero looked to Quatre suddenly. "You probably understand why it works this way better than I do."

"If I had to guess," Quatre said slowly, nodding to himself, "I'd say you focus on the earth itself, not the people interacting with it. Master Toph could read heartbeats in the earth and she could interpret them. But the earth doesn't tell you what the heartbeats mean." He looked carefully at Heero. "I think you understand the earth the way it understands itself, not the way people do."

"That sounds a lot better than what I was thinking," Duo slumped a bit. "So, to sum up, we have four of maybe the strangest benders around, and one non-bender with empathy. Not exactly an army."

"We don't need an army. And what do you mean ' _four_ ' strange benders?" Wufei looked at him sharply.

"A waterbender who doesn't bend water, an airbender who doesn't believe in the things Air Nomads do and doesn't talk – and when have you _ever_ met an airbender who didn't talk? – an earthbender who's more rock himself than bender, and you're just strange. Not your bending, Wufei. Just you." Duo ticked them off on his fingers, grinning when he got to Wufei.

"Why you…!"

"Never mind," Heero said. "Regardless, now we seem to know enough about one another. What is our next mission?"

"First, you recover," Wufei said. When Heero glared at him, Trowa nodded.

"You could have died, you know," he said. "There seems to be a lot of members of the Order here. They won't send you out until you're well. Or," he smiled a little, "I'm sure Iria will yell at them."

"Oh, yes, yes she will," Quatre shook his head ruefully.

"Why do you ask about 'our' mission, Heero?" Duo put in.

That made everyone turn to look at the waterbender, who shrugged. It was Quatre who spoke up.

"You think we'll work together from now on?" Heero nodded. Quatre tipped his head back as though thinking.

"Think aloud, Cattie," Duo urged. To the others, he said, "He thinks too much and goes all quiet. It's way more fun to listen to him think."

"Oh. Well, I was just considering. Our purpose has always been to defeat the Order of the Black Lotus. So far, we've weakened their position significantly, but they've grown stronger in other ways. At this point, it seems that acting from the shadows isn't going to help. The situation in the Earth Kingdom gets worse every day as the independents and the loyalists get more entrenched in their positions. The Fire Nation has declared war on us even if they don't know who we are. Republic City has a Peacecraft." He tipped his head forward again. "If I were the one giving us missions, I'd want us to stay together from here on out because we can be a lot more effective as a group than one at a time."

"That is strategically sound," Wufei nodded. "Our enemy is moving into the open now. We need to meet it as a force." But he looked displeased as he said it.

"None of us are really team players, though," Duo said knowingly. "What's stopping us from going off on our own and, you know, doing our own thing?"

"Nothing," Trowa said. Then he smiled deprecatingly. "And I'm probably the first to go. But I won't."

"Why?" Wufei wanted to know.

"Because I already said I wouldn't. Remember? If two together are better than one, what are five?" Trowa looked over at Heero. "We already proved that we can help each other. And that we need to."

"Perhaps," Wufei conceded. But before anything else could be said, he stood. "Where are we all sleeping, Quatre? I am ready to rest."

"I'll show you. A couple of people will have to share, though, since we probably should let Heero get some sleep on his own."

"I totally call your room, OwlCat!" Duo cheered, bouncing to his feet.

"Acceptable," Trowa nodded at Wufei. He rose, also, and the three followed Quatre out of the room. Heero could hear them being shown the rest of the house, and wondered if they would just leave him for the night, and if he should mind more if they did or if they didn't. But Duo and Quatre came back after just a few moments.

"Glad you're okay, you rockhead," Duo smiled warmly. "You looked better before all this," and he gestured at the bed, "but I'm glad you're not dead anyway. Good thing Cattie sent Wufei to get Trowa and bring you here, or we'd be short one earthbender in this mess. Get better soon, okay?"

And he ducked out again.

"Is Duo...nervous?" Heero asked, eyebrow raised. Then he coughed dryly.

"I don't think he expected to care about you," the empath replied. "But he does. Anyway, I'll get you some water," Quatre offered. "Iria said you should try to rest through tonight. She'll see if you're well enough to get up tomorrow." He began to move out of the room.

"Quatre."

"Yes, Heero?" he turned back, tipping his head questioningly.

"What did you do?"

"I don't know what you mean."

Heero frowned and started to swing his legs off the bed. As his face registered the pain of the quick movement, Quatre immediately turned back, moving to support him and settle him back in a seated position leaning against the pillows. But the instant he was in range, Heero struck, lashing out and gripping Quatre's shoulder with surprising force.

"You did more than send Wufei to me. I know you did. What was it?"

"Heero, I..." Quatre tried to look anywhere but the stony face that was inches from his own.

"What. Did. You. Do."

"I didn't hurt you!" Quatre protested. At this, Heero's face softened.

"I know that. I want to know what you did because I want you to explain it. I shouldn't have survived, shouldn't have woken up, and I know that. My heart tells me the difference was you. I want to know why."

"Does it matter so much?" Quatre looked down to where his knees were trapping Heero's blanket between them.

"It matters to me."

"All right." Quatre didn't look up, but he adjusted his position to be more comfortable. Heero relaxed his hold on the empath's shoulder, but only a little. "It's sort of hard to explain. You almost died, Heero, and Trowa and Wufei had days before they got here for Iria to look at you. I don't know how it works exactly, but I know that somehow you got...lost."

"Lost?" Heero repeated.

"Yes," Quatre met his eyes. "Like your spirit had given up. Like you had _decided_ to die, and you were already gone from your body. When I got here, what I felt from you reminded me of a teacher I once had who would go on spiritual journeys trying to reach cosmic enlightenment. It felt like that. Like you had become a spirit and left this world behind."

"That's probably true," Heero nodded. "My orders were to close the pass behind us and to die in that battle rather than surrender. For a while, I thought I _had_ died."

"Well, you didn't," Quatre said stubbornly. "I could tell. I knew you'd come close, but I knew you hadn't really left us yet. Even before I reached Gundam Island I was trying to hold you together, keep you from slipping away. From the moment I felt you nearly die in the battle, I was reaching for you with all my strength. I don't know if it helped."

Heero considered the odd memory he had of a mushroom in the dark and said nothing.

"But when I got here, then I did...something with my empathy. It's hard to say what exactly. And it seemed to call you back, wake you out of wherever you had gone."

"And what would have happened to me if you hadn't done that?"

Quatre looked him straight in the eyes. "You would have died. If not in the battle, then certainly before you ever got here."

"I am alive because of you and your empathy then," Heero said more to himself than to Quatre.

"I'm sorry," Quatre huffed. "I can tell you kind of don't want to be, even if part of you is glad to be alive too. I'm not sure I did you a service, but I couldn't let you die either."

Heero regarded Quatre quietly for a moment. He could not understand why a stranger, knowing him only for part of a single afternoon, would care so much if he lived or died. But he could read in Quatre's clear eyes that, indeed, his life meant something to the empath. Maybe all lives did – Quatre seemed like the kind of person who would mourn any death, not just that of a friend and ally.

"Don't thank me," Quatre held up a hand just as Heero was beginning to think he should do just that. "You won't really mean it yet, and that's all right. I just hope you can forgive me, too."

"It really matters to you that I am alive. That all of us are," Heero said instead.

"It really does."

"Then I'll try not to waste what you did for me."

Quatre smiled a little, his face still reflecting the somewhat-conflicted feelings in Heero's own heart, but that was all right. It was enough.


	15. The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "So I say to you today, people of Republic City, do not be afraid of the days to come. We will face them together, you and I. We will stand amidst the storms no matter how the sky darkens. We will speak words of peace and diplomacy no matter the actions taken against us. We will be the example of unity and hope that the world so desperately needs. It may not be easy, but I promise you, this path will be right."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh, you guys, I'm so sorry! I missed last weekend due to hosting a massive Ostara (Spring Equinox) party for about 12 people and between the prep and subsequent clean-up I barely slept. And then a friend had surgery and I was on duty to keep her taking meds in the middle of the night. To make up for missing a week, here are two chapters for you and we'll be back on track.
> 
> Thanks to all of you for your patience and your feedback! I can't tell you what it means to know you're enjoying the journey. I hope these new developments continue to interest and surprise you!
> 
> Speaking of which, I think this chapter inadvertently exposes the precise difference between my version of the world after A:TLA and the one that happened in Korra; one group's decision split the potential future and, in this case, my story is the result. Spot it?
> 
> Enjoy!

It had taken two days for the worst of the damage to Republic City's main governmental building to be repaired enough that Relena was permitted return to the site. Besides the firebenders and earthbenders in the attack, there had been multiple explosions from incendiary substances littered throughout the area. The once-proud white building, solid and strong, had been blackened and cracked to its core. Even two days later, it still looked like it had weathered a war all on its own.

It was a sobering backdrop to Relena Peacecraft's first address to the populace of Republic City.

The crowd absolutely filled the central square, lines of people winding well back into the streets that led to the heart of the city, far beyond where anyone might be able to hear Relena's voice. To compensate, others were situated on small podiums throughout the crowd, poised to repeat her words to those who could not find a place near enough. These men and women also wore a golden patch stitched hastily on their shoulders signifying them as benders who had sworn to help the standing Republic City guard protect the people. Virtually every bender in Republic City wore one.

Arrayed in front of the building was the full Council standing on a newly-constructed podium, since the balcony designed for this purpose had not yet been repaired. Relena stood in the center of them, resplendent in a long white gown with a shawl of all four elemental colors around her shoulders. Hidden from the crowd by the podium's waist-high railing, Noin crouched at Relena's feet. She had her hands as well as her feet on the earthen podium, and her eyes were closed. The Republic City guard had been charged with ensuring the peace during the event, as well as being prepared to handle a second attack should one occur, but Noin permitted no one but herself anywhere near Relena and the Council. There was enough earth in the podium that with a single gesture she could shield the entire Council if it were needed.

Relena looked out over the people. There had been thankfully very few injuries after the attack, but the fear and uncertainty of the people of the City was so much worse.

A large gong, set up to one side, rang out for silence. Relena took a deep breath and began to speak, lifting her voice loud and clear over the people.

"My name is Relena Peacecraft. I have inherited the position once held by my father, Marticus Peacecraft. I am saddened that our first discussion must be tainted with the violence that occurred here two days ago.

"But what I have learned of Republic City and its people in these two days has shown me that everything my father ever taught me about this nation was true. The people of Republic City have brought together many different cultures and teachings to create a sense of self that is strong and enduring. A sense of community that holds together no matter what. Freedom and passion tempered with understanding and peace. There truly is no nation like Republic City."

That elicited a cheer and she waited for silence again.

"The attack on us was not by any nation at all," Relena felt anger curl in her stomach and it gave her words more conviction, "but rather a group of individuals who believe war is a desired outcome. They sought to silence us, to show that people cannot find a peaceful solution to their differences. They attacked us not because they are evil, but because they are _afraid. Afraid_ that what we have built in Republic City can become a reality throughout the world.

"And I say here and now that we, that the people of Republic City, will not be silenced by their fear!"

This time the cheer was more a roar.

"There are difficult times ahead, and they will visit us just as they will visit every nation and city and culture all over the world. Republic City will not shy from the difficulty, but nor will we lead the way into a war. It is my role as Peacecraft to do just that – to craft peace for the people. I will never endorse violence when kindness and understanding will suffice. I will never support oppression when people clamor for freedom. The way of Republic City is to live as one with many faces, and I will carry this to every part of the world if needed.

"So I say to you today, people of Republic City, do not be afraid of the days to come. We will face them together, you and I. We will stand amidst the storms no matter how the sky darkens. We will speak words of peace and diplomacy no matter the actions taken against us. We will be the example of unity and hope that the world so desperately needs.

"It may not be easy, but I promise you, this path will be _right_.

"So fill your hearts with hope, and trust in peace. The world may descend into war, but Republic City will never lose its way as long as all of us, every one of you and the Council and myself, stand for the things that are worth standing for, and never surrender to those who would cut us down. Believe in me, I beg of you, because I believe in all of you.

"Let Republic City stand as a light of hope to guide the world through the storm!"

This time, the cheering was _thunderous_.

"Well done, Relena," spoke the most senior of the Councilors, a man called Pagan. "You have given them courage."

"I hope you're right," she replied, waving to the crowd. "I hope to keep their trust, because it will be tested far too soon."

"You have more than their trust," Pagan smiled. "You have ours as well. Your plan is bold, but we know that it is, as you have said, _right_. When the time comes, you will have not only the Council, but the whole of the city at your side."

Relena raised her other arm to wave so she could stretch her right hand to squeeze Pagan's tightly.

-==OOO==-

Afternoon on Gundam Island saw the five masked fighters doing something it was clear none of them did often – attempting to relax. With firm orders from Iria that Heero should not move farther than to a chair out on the patio, and the others quietly grateful for the respite, they found themselves spending a great portion of the day in quiet, sitting in the sun-warmed sand or in the shade of the house, looking at the ocean and the sky.

They had said very little to one another all day, but when a dark shape came winging out of the sky, all five perked up with interest.

"Heya 'Scythe," Duo jumped to his feet, reaching up to catch his hawk with a smile. "Where you been, buddy?"

The hawk ran his head along Duo's cheek once in greeting before flapping slightly, shifting the message carrier affixed to his back. It contained a thick parchment. As Duo unrolled it, his hawk spotted something worth hunting and darted off into the undergrowth.

"Orders?" Heero asked, not rising from his seat but leaning forward intently.

"No," Duo said, shaking his head as his eyes flicked over the paper. "This is from the Mechanists."

"And what do those cowardly tinkerers want?" Wufei rose from where he had been meditating on the beach and joined the others on the porch steps.

"That's a little harsh," Quatre frowned.

"The Mechanists could have done so much good if they had ever deigned to come out of their little fortress," Wufei tossed his head. "They _should_ have helped to rebuild the world after the Fire Lord's War, not retreated to hide in their shame. Especially those who were a part of the Fire Nation at the time and had so much blood to answer for. But no, they joined the allied Mechanists instead and hid from the world. The Fire Nation had to face its actions and work to repair the damage it had done – we didn't have the luxury of shutting ourselves away."

"Yes, but if they had been more active, what sort of world do you think we would have now?" Trowa asked. "The weapons they designed could have become even more dangerous than they were during the war. Perhaps we would not recognize our world if they had not gone into seclusion together."

"They're still cowards," Wufei shook his head. "If they had shared even a _portion_ of their technology with the world, rebuilding may not have taken so long, nor have sowed so many seeds of discontent."

"You can't possibly be blaming the Mechanists for the mess we're in?" Duo accused.

"Not blaming, no. But there is great dishonor in bearing power and not using it," Wufei answered. "Those who are powerless should not fight, but those who have power should never stand by while the world burns. The Mechanists are powerful, and they do nothing."

"Didn't you fight to defend them when we first met?" Trowa asked slyly.

"Of course. But not because they deserved it. Because I couldn't stand the idea of any of their technology falling into the hands of our enemies. The Mechanists were otherwise too weak to prevent defeat and too shut in to recognize the danger."

"Well, then, you're wrong!" Duo thrust the parchment at him. "Just because nobody else knows how involved they get doesn't mean they aren't out there helping!"

"How do you know that?" Quatre asked. Duo smiled.

"I know they say the Mechanists never come out of the old Northern Air Temple, but that's not true. They do all their research out here," he spread his arms. "You just gotta know who you're meeting. Me and Howard, we go way back."

"Howard?" Heero tipped his head. "Current leader of the Mechanist faction?"

"Yup. He's a little nuts, they all are, but he's a good guy."

"So what does it say?" Quatre asked, looking at Wufei, whose black eyes raced over the scroll.

"Apparently the Mechanists have grown _a_ _little_ in honor," the firebender conceded. "Howard states that the Mechanists have decided to help defend and support the independence movement. He suggests that no Mechanists will actually fight should it come to that, but their technology will be offered to those who want it." He looked up, brow furrowed. "But why did he send this to you?"

"I just said," Duo shrugged. "Me and Howard go way back. He knows me from before I was Shinigami, and he knows about the masks. He doesn't like the Order much, but he knows I'll tell him what's what if he's dealing with them."

"This is a major tactical advantage," Heero put in. "The smaller cities and islands and people who may have to fight to free themselves will be much better able to repel an attack if they have the support of a well-armed faction."

"Do you think it's going to come to that?" Trowa asked. "Each city fighting by itself against whatever nation currently claims it?"

"No," said Quatre, blue-green eyes unfocused as he looked vaguely out towards the ocean. The others all turned to him and he spoke slowly, as though seeing many months ahead. "If it were only one or two places, the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom would just initiate a siege or a battle or a blockade to get what they want. It's because the independent groups are so spread out that they're hard to control. Even the Earth Kingdom doesn't want to spread its forces that far out."

"So what's gonna happen?" Duo asked.

"I think there will be a few key altercations," Quatre answered. "Maybe battles, maybe diplomatic conversations. With the Fire Nation, definitely more likely battles. But I think the nations will wait until a sizable force formally declares their desire for independence, then move against them. For example, if Ember Island were to declare independence from the Fire Nation, a battle there might be enough to frighten any other independence groups into giving up if the Fire Nation won overwhelmingly."

"Does anyone know how many groups are seeking independence?" Wufei asked thoughtfully.

"Thirty-five," Quatre said. "That's counting everything from small village alliances to already semi-autonomous places like Kyoshi Island to major cities like Omashu."

"And the Mechanists themselves," Heero put in. "They're already independent in everything but name only, but they too would rather not be considered part of the Earth Kingdom."

"Which is why they're willing to fight," Trowa nodded understandingly. "They know the Earth Kingdom would not bother to attack them outright, but if another group wins independence they would also benefit."

"The Order isn't going to like this," Quatre said slowly. "The Mechanists throwing their weight behind the independents will cause the Fire Nation, and maybe even the Earth Kingdom, to align more closely with our enemies to balance the scales." He let out a long breath. "We may be ordered to sabotage the Mechanists' alliance with the independents to prevent the Black Lotus from gaining more power and influence."

"And if we are?" Wufei looked at the other four tightly. "Is that an order we will obey?"

"Not me," Duo snarled. "Howard is my friend and the Mechanists are great. OwlCat's buddy Sada told us not to listen to the Order when they were being stupid. I guess he was right. Weakening the independents and attacking the Mechanists to do it is the _definition_ of stupid."

"In this, we are in complete agreement," Wufei nodded at him.

Trowa, Heero, and Quatre exchanged glances. Their indecision was obvious. Then, unexpectedly, Heero pushed off the chair in which he'd spent his afternoon and stood. No one moved to help him – the storm-cloud expression on his face forestalled it – and he strode until he was standing in the sand. The others said nothing but noted that he shifted his weight until he was in a rooted stance. The earthbender was reaching for the earth, for the solid center from which all drew strength and certainty.

When he spoke, it was with solid conviction.

"The only way to live a good life is to act on your emotions. I begin to understand now why Sifu Odin looked on the Order with such disdain. It was his dying wish that I not permit them to define my path. Now seems as good a time as any for me to build one of my own, for I too have no desire to attack the Mechanists or prevent the independents from gaining their freedom. We should not have to harm others to destroy our enemies."

"We don't…" Quatre began softly, "we don't necessarily have to break with the Order for this."

"Don't we?" Trowa asked. "If we have reached the point that we will question and even refuse a mission when given, what is left?"

Quatre let out a breath. "I guess what I mean is that we just have to stop the Order from trying to give us any mission we don't feel is right."

"Can you do that, Cattie?" Duo asked. "I know you're something in the Order but…"

"I have a lot of friends," Quatre said. "A lot of powerful friends. Not just Sada. They'll listen."

"Even if you can intervene and keep foolish missions from us," Wufei said, frowning, "I believe I shall continue to act as an independent myself from now on. I do not object wholly to working with your Order if it furthers my goals," he tipped his head at Quatre, "but I do not consider myself beholden to them and I will not take their orders again."

"Nor I," Heero said quietly. But he did not elaborate. Quatre looked at him sharply, though, and remembered what Heero had told him, that he had received orders to die in the battle that had almost killed him.

"I'm kinda getting tired of those stuffed up monkeybirds myself," Duo put in. "If we're fighting for people to get away from the Old Four, we might as well get away from our own Old Foolish Guys."

"Trowa?" Quatre asked.

The airbender smiled. "I have no reason to remain attached to the Order so firmly that I cannot fly as the wind carries me. There is a difference between an anchor and a branch on which to rest."

"I can't turn my back on the Order entirely," Quatre said, meeting the eyes of everyone now turned to him. "But perhaps it is time for the Order to look on us less as their tools and agents. That I could do. Then we could continue our own battle against the Black Lotus, but on our own terms. We would fight as allies, but for ourselves."

"Allies whom they must respect and treat as _equals_ ," Wufei said firmly, approvingly. "Allies to whom they owe a great debt for all we have done for them already."

"But if we're going to do this," Quatre's face hardened, "then we have to do it together. We cannot break from the Order and become five unconnected soldiers once again. We will lose all our strength."

Trowa looked blazingly at Wufei, sparing a quick glance to Heero and Duo, before he turned back. "Agreed."

When the others nodded, Wufei even condescending enough to duck his head in a half-bow, a certain tension ran out of Quatre and his face sharpened. "The five of us united are a formidable force. The Order will not deny us anything we ask if we ask correctly. They won't _dare_." He looked predatory and pleased about it.

"Then are we still masks? Or are we a new Order?" Duo wanted to know. He looked around and wondered how it had come to pass that five totally lone fighters were now making this decision as one. And he was glad of it, even if he couldn't say why. They hadn't even discussed what their actual goals _were_ – only that they all had some. But it felt better than relying on the Order, and what Heero had said about living based on your own emotions made a lot more sense to Duo than anything he'd heard in a long time.

"No," that was Wufei. "Wearing the masks themselves is sensible as it instills fear as well as guarding our identities, but we shall not be merely false faces of the Order of the White Lotus."

"We must become an order of our own," Heero said. "Only then will we be able to stand, feared by our enemies as well as our allies if necessary."

"I've got a name for us!" Duo grinned. But Trowa reached over and tugged on his long braid.

"Whatever it is, we don't like it."

"You haven't even heard it yet!"

"We don't need to."

"Aw!"

"We have made this decision here," Heero said, twisting his feet slightly and feeling the rock beneath the sand. "And just as we shall take our powers from the Order to use for ourselves, so shall we take the use of this place. You already said this was an Order stronghold, and you obviously have a great deal of influence here," he turned to Quatre who nodded.

"Then we will claim this island as payment for our services already rendered," Wufei continued darkly. "And we will gain not only a base of our own, but the influence to ensure compliance should our allies prove to be false."

"And if Gundam Island is ours," Trowa finished the thought, "then we are Gundams."

-==OOO==-

The knock at her door was the only warning Relena had. She rose quickly, something in the urgency of the rapid pounding twisting her heart in her chest. She wasn't afraid for herself – attackers wouldn't knock at the door of her private chambers within the Council's building, after all – but that didn't mean something wasn't wrong.

The door opened and Noin walked into the room holding herself up stiffly. She made a full and proper salute to Relena before standing at attention.

"Relena Peacecraft," she said very formally, "you have a guest."

And Prince Treize of the Fire Nation entered.

Relena had never seen him before, but she hadn't needed to. Between the description of him she'd had from Noin days ago, the rank and insignia on his uniform, and his sheer _presence_ and bearing, she had no doubts. Treize walked like a man who knows he can command the world and it will obey him, with the aristocratic grace of a lifetime of nobility.

Relena stepped from around her table as the prince bowed to her, not the kneeling bow he would have given his father, but a standing bow that marked them as equals. Relena noted it – Treize saw her as a figure of power, but not a figure of control like a king. This made her smile less careful and more genuine as she bowed to him in return, showing him the same amount of deference.

"Prince Treize," she said graciously, "it is an honor to meet you at last."

"The honor is mine," he replied smoothly, a light hovering in his blue eyes. "Please forgive me, but I fear I have not yet discovered a means of expressing my sorrow for your father's passing, my congratulations on your new position, and my concern for your well-being after the attack in your city all at once without sounding crude."

Relena inclined her head with a soft chuckle. "It is rather a lot to be getting on with. Please, do sit down."

As she gestured him to one of her comfortable chairs, one that had another at its side rather than facing him from behind her table, she caught Noin giving her a tiny wink before leaving the room and shutting the door after her.

"I see we have a friend in common."

Relena looked up in surprise, quickly turning the expression into another smile. "Two, I believe."

"Ah, so you have heard the story of how my dear Zechs became the 'Lightning Count,' then? Noin does not tell it often." He settled into the chair more easily. "Neither Zechs nor Noin give their allegiance easily, so the fact that you have won them both over says more to me than any of your pretty speeches. But well done on that one all the same."

"You were there?"

"Yes, of course," Treize said a little smugly. "I have been in the area for a few days now."

"I heard nothing of it, or I would have greeted you properly much sooner," Relena said.

"I wished you to know nothing of it. You will soon learn that even a prince may move in secret if he knows how."

"But now you have come," Relena looked at him a little more closely. "As you could have left Republic City without my ever knowing you were here, you must have some reason for coming to see me now."

"I could merely be bringing my own greetings," he returned. "Or conveying something from the Fire Lord."

"If that were the case, you would have come sooner," Relena refused to back down. She did not harden her face, but she looked quietly at Treize until, to her surprise, he laughed.

"You do remind me of Zechs after all," he shook his head. "Stubborn, the both of you. Ah, well. It comes of being surrounded by earthbenders. You face the world head-on, all of you."

Relena waited.

"Understand, Relena Peacecraft, that I come to you now not on behalf of my father. That will happen later, I am certain, when he has decided what he thinks of you. As of yet, you have not done anything to make him want to notice you. But," he tipped his head, "if I read your eyes correctly, I believe that will not last for long."

"You know I will not betray the confidence of the Council or of any who have sought its advice."

"Of course not," Treize held up a hand. "I merely request certain…insight into what you may desire. For example, you know that the Fire Nation has declared war. Do you intend to do the same?"

"No!" Relena said reflexively. Then she took a deep breath and said more calmly. "No. We do not wish for bloodshed or violence. We are allies of the world and we do not want to divide it."

"A pretty sentiment, but to take no side in the growing conflict is to leave your fate in the hands of the other nations."

"Perhaps," and suddenly Relena felt herself growing bolder. Treize was her brother's friend, and more importantly, he was powerful in the Fire Nation. If anyone was going to prove to be a problem, it would be either Treize himself or his father.

"Prince Treize," Relena said very carefully, "you know very well that I cannot tell you anything before I have the approval of the Council."

"Of course."

"However," and she chose her next words deliberately, "as you say, remaining silent in the conflict is no option."

"Republic City cannot wait to one side and do nothing," Treize agreed. "As a nation of all, you have the unique power to stand on a different path than the rest of us."

"Yes," Relena gathered herself and continued, "and I wish to open that path to _all_ who might desire it, no matter from where they come."

Treize blinked at her for a moment.

Relena did not let her face fall, but she felt more nervous than she had ever been before in her life, even more than speaking before the Council for the first time. She had, very carefully, admitted to Treize that Republic City intended to offer shelter to the other independent forces around the world. To forge a nation of all, truly.

Politically, this also likely meant the Fire Nation would not be able to remain friendly with Republic City, given that they had already declared war and Relena was effectively taking their enemies and bringing them into her own nation. It was both reckless and necessary. And if the Fire Nation did extend its declaration of war to Republic City, well, by that point the best Relena could hope for was to protect as many innocent people as she could.

"The path of Republic City," Treize said at last, "is admirable, even if it is optimistic."

"Optimistic?" Relena replied in surprise. "It is the dream of unity, of peace, of strength and life to be shared across peoples. The greatest power in the world was held in the Avatar, the beacon and example of unity. Only when the world emulates that oneness will we find the truth of ourselves and what we may become."

"You misunderstand the world, Relena Peacecraft," Treize said, but there was no malice in his tone. "Republic City is a fine example of all that humanity will never become."

"And why is that?" she challenged him.

"People are frightened creatures, Relena. They startle at sounds and shadows, they leap for comfort and safety, and they do not feel the pain they inflict when they strike out in fear or anger. You wish to lead but not rule, and perhaps with a small number of people that might be possible. But no full nation can so trust in its people. A proper ruler loves his people, loves them above all else, including his own power and life. But he never forgets that his people will always make the worst choice, and he must guide them to protect them from their own foolish natures."

"I cannot believe that," Relena shook her head. "People are not babies who need their wiser parents to make their lives soft and simple. People deserve better than that."

"Try it if you dare," Treize shrugged. "But you will soon learn that fear rules more than honor or trust. And when you learn that lesson, Republic City will fall with it."

Relena clenched her fists, but before she could formulate a response, the Fire Nation prince rose gracefully. He swept her a courtly bow with an arch expression.

"If it comforts you," he said, "I would prefer to be wrong in this matter. But I fear I am not." He smiled. "I shall bid you good evening for now, Relena Peacecraft."

And he strode out of the room.

Relena felt all her air rush out of her and she slumped back against the chair that seemed to be the only solid thing in the world. But after a few numb moments, she shook herself and stood up.

"I'm not wrong. I won't believe it."

"That was very well handled."

Relena spun to see Noin leaning in the dark corner of the room. "When did you come in?"

"Me?" Noin grinned. "I was always here. I was just a little more _in_ the wall before." She sobered. "I heard every word, Relena. Your father would be very proud of you."

"Yes, but…" she glanced back to the chair in which Treize had sat.

"That's Prince Treize," Noin came forward. "He's always like that. Actually, he was rather gentle on you, all things considered."

"All things considered?" Relena repeated.

"Well, stop thinking about what he said and consider what he didn't say instead," she answered.

Relena's heart started to pound. "He…he didn't disagree with my plan!"

"Exactly."

She couldn't help it – Relena made a very little-girl bounce and threw her arms around Noin joyfully. "If he had objected, even privately, I could never have done it. He could have said something specific about bringing the war to the path I have set. But he didn't! He won't make trouble for us!"

"Which is not the same thing as saying his father won't," Noin cautioned her. "But Treize has a great deal of influence, and he's more powerful than anyone but the Fire Lord himself. You won't have an easy path ahead of you, but with Treize at least willing to stay out of it, you've got a chance."

"Right." Relena drew herself up, her mind racing. "Of course there will be resistance from the Old Four. But…between Treize and Zechs…" she took a deep breath. "It's time to speak to the Council."

"I'll summon them at once," Noin saluted her with a smile and swept out of the room.

Relena wanted to sink back into her chair, but instead she strode to the window and straightened her shoulders.

"Father…brother…" she looked at the bright midday light filtering through the clouds and lighting up the city, "I'm going to do it. For you both, I'm going to do it. I promise."


	16. Set the West in Flames

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It's not war," Septum protested. "It's just a sensible way of ensuring the peace."
> 
> "Sometimes," Zechs said sadly, "keeping the peace cannot be what you consider 'sensible' if it is to be done correctly. A peace that divides is not peace at all."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More goodness! Or badness, depending on your perspective. Things will start to move fast now.
> 
> Enjoy!

"Enter."

Zechs pushed open the door to one of the Earth King's private rooms, in this case, his library. The Earth King often held his quiet conversations in such places rather than the more opulent royal chambers or before the nobility, where he could be thoughtful and curious rather than having to prove to be the commanding leader of the largest nation in the world. Zechs bowed as soon as the door was closed behind him, but he knew without looking that he and Earth King Noventa were not alone in the library this time. Sitting in the seat at Noventa's side was Septum, and Zech's heart constricted. That seat had been his father's.

Chancellor Darlian would have been repulsed to know that his place had been taken by the Under-Secretariat that he had always regarded with suspicion.

"You asked for me, your majesty," Zechs spoke evenly as he rose from his bow, utterly ignoring the presence of the other man in the room. "How may I serve?"

"Please sit down, Zechs," Noventa said, waving informally to the seat he habitually took. "I have several matters to discuss."

Zechs inclined his head politely to Septum once he was seated across from the man, but he was as usual grateful that the mask hid his expression. Few ever got close enough to see the look in his eyes with his face covered, and it was a good thing – he could not have masked his own mistrust.

"First of all, as I am sure you have already surmised, I intend to announce that I will name Under-Secretariat Septum as my full Secretariat. He will, however, not serve as Chancellor just yet, to appease other sensibilities." The Earth King's face was composed, and he did not so much as hint at what Zechs knew to be true; Noventa was aware of Darlian's and Zech's mistrust of Septum, and he would not instate the man to the position of Chancellor until giving Zechs a chance to prove or disprove their concerns.

"I understand," Zechs said simply.

"I realize this appointment of a Secretariat is a bit soon for all of us," Noventa said, "but times require that I have another strong voice to guide me. The situation has grown quite dire."

"The attack against Republic City was reprehensible," Septum spoke up. "We cannot sit idly by and permit another attack of a similar magnitude to happen on our own lands."

"General," the king looked to Zechs, "you know of the Fire Nation's declaration, do you not?"

"Officially or unofficially?" Zechs asked.

"Both."

"Officially, the Fire Nation has declared war against those specific individuals who were behind the attack launched against their firebending academy. Unofficially, the Fire Lord means to make war against all the forces under his nation that speak out for independence as well. And it is my understanding that this will not remain unofficial for long. Prince Treize is already investigating the original attack, and my sources suggest he has also been in Republic City to see if there is a link between the perpetrators there and those he seeks."

"That matches my information as well," Noventa nodded. He turned to Septum. "What are your thoughts on the matter?"

"The attacks in Republic City as well as Ba Sing Se have ruined any chance we might have had for a peaceful solution with the independents," he said, jaw squaring. "We cannot trust these forces to obey the rules of diplomacy, and we cannot permit them any further latitude. I can sympathize with Fire Lord Dermail's desire to mass his power against them rather than give them another opportunity to risk innocent lives."

"You would suggest we declare war?" Zechs asked, unable to keep the sharpness out of his tone.

"I _suggest_ we protect our people, including from their very neighbors who would rather attack than seek resolution to their grievances correctly," Septum snapped.

"Calm yourselves, gentlemen," Noventa said evenly. "War is an extreme decision not to be undertaken lightly. However, the severity of the attack in Republic City concerns me greatly. Such an attack in Ba Sing Se would be many times more destructive."

He did not need to explain. Zechs had already gotten reports from a few contacts, not to mention Noin's full report which had been very, very detailed. He knew how many black-clad soldiers and benders had been in the area, though only a few had entered the city proper for the attack. He knew that it was only the presence of a large number of waterbenders in Republic City that had kept the injuries to a minimum between their healing abilities and their quick control over the fires and explosions. Ba Sing Se had no large contingent of waterbenders, and a similar attack without them to ameliorate the danger would mean many, many deaths. It was sheer luck that the attack had happened so late in the afternoon that the buildings nearest the main square had been mostly empty.

Zechs did not permit himself to dwell on how lucky Relena was to have been away from the attack when it happened. He focused on gratitude for Noin's presence at her side. Though he sorely missed her here, too. He knew she would have had an idea about what to do with this situation.

"It seems," the Earth King continued after a moment, "that whoever is behind these attacks is growing more bold, not less. If those who attacked us once before, those who struck at the Fire Nation and Republic City, if they continue to escalate this situation, war will be inevitable."

"But with whom?" Zechs asked. "We have no proof that these attacks were carried out by the same group, or that any of them represent the interests of the independents. We should not leap to such conclusions."

"You interrogated the boy who attacked Ba Sing Se," Septum looked at Zechs. "Did he truly say nothing at all of value?"

"He did not," Zechs affirmed. "But it is my belief that his actions and the attack in Republic City are not fueled by the same agenda. He worked alone, and he was rescued by another individual acting alone. Why would they abandon that tactic to instead appear as black-wearing warriors in much greater numbers?"

"Are you suggesting there were two different groups with enough animosity that they would both resort to violence?" Noventa was surprised.

"Why assume all our enemies and allies are one homogenous force?" Zechs returned. "We may speak of the independents as if they were a single voice with a single goal, but Chancellor Darlian knew well that they were a disparate, fractured group. Many of them will not even voluntarily join the others in an alliance."

Zechs carefully said nothing about his actual suspicions. His father's death would have brought nothing to those seeking independence; he had been their greatest advocate and ally. It was Zech's opinion that someone else was invested in this tangle, someone whose motivations and identity remained a mystery, but who would stop at nothing to achieve their goals. Zechs thought it was much more likely this mysterious force was behind at least some of the attacks, if not all of them. He had already mentioned such to Noventa in private, but he dared not say anything in front of Septum. Not until he knew the man's loyalties for himself.

"You make a fair point," the Earth King acknowledged. "But as the situation becomes increasingly unstable, I will also lose the ability to treat the independent forces as disparate groups. The Fire Nation is a mere step from declaring war against every single city and hamlet that has spoken out. Unilateral action would not be my preference, but it may be the only option left to me."

"I believe we should be strong and steady," Septum said. "If you will not declare war, we must tighten our control and show all the sides in this conflict that we will not be bullied or made to cower. We cannot allow the Fire Nation to appear stronger or more dedicated than ourselves. A measured response does not have to be a weak one."

"What do you suggest then?" Noventa asked.

"We reiterate that, while we are still willing to negotiate, we will not be brought to the table by force. We continue to investigate the source or sources of these attacks, and anyone who is connected to them, man, woman, city, or statesman, will be held accountable. But," he pinched his lips tightly before continuing.

"I also believe it may be worth restricting the actions of any and all firebenders within the Earth Kingdom."

"Why?" Zechs demanded.

"We know from these attacks that there are firebenders in the groups that have caused such violence," Septum replied. "There are very, very few benders who aren't earthbenders in most of the Earth Kingdom. In fact, the only firebenders who live in the Earth Kingdom live primarily in those cities that are looking for independence. If we restrict their movements, watch them carefully, require them to be monitored by our agents, any who might be capable of doing harm will be better controlled. And the innocent have nothing to fear."

"There were earthbenders in those attacks too!" Zechs returned hotly. "Will we do the same to them?"

"You know as well as I do that we cannot – it would be utterly impractical. There are too many of them. But there are only a small number of firebenders. If we control the firebenders, we will deal a blow to those who would harm us."

"I understand your distress," the Earth King lifted a hand to forestall Zech's retort, "but I fear he has a point. We know that firebenders are among those who would do us harm. It was a firebender who killed Darlian, after all. I do not relish the idea of treating any innocent citizens like terrorists, but as Septum says, those who are innocent have nothing to fear. And those firebenders who resist us may lead us to the ones we want."

Zechs clenched his hands, but he could not say anything without losing his temper, and he could not afford to lose face before the Earth King and soon-to-be-Secretariat Septum.

"Zechs," Noventa spoke more gently, "it is merely a precaution to ensure the safety of the whole Earth Kingdom. Surely that is worth the slight inconvenience to the few firebenders who count themselves among our people."

Zechs shook his head. He knew he had lost, but he could not help but reply, "I can see no quicker way for our people to turn on one another than to single out a few for this 'precaution.' If we are trying to avoid declaring war, it does not seem wise to begin by declaring war on some of our own people and divide them by anything other than proven guilt."

"It's not war," Septum protested. "It's just a sensible way of ensuring the peace."

"Sometimes," Zechs said sadly, "keeping the peace cannot be what you consider 'sensible' if it is to be done correctly. A peace that divides is not peace at all."

-==OOO==-

It took three days of negotiations in a secret location before Quatre returned to the house on Gundam Island. The others had offered to go with him to make their case before however-many of the Grand Lotus members of the Order of the White Lotus would be required to forge the agreement, but Quatre had declined politely. He explained that he would not be speaking directly in a meeting, but rather one-on-one with his allies in the Order, and that was better managed alone. A wizened old airbender had come with a flying bison, and Sada had accompanied Quatre on the trip.

For the now-named Gundams, it was a peaceful three days. Heero continued to heal after his exploits, and he was even permitted to do some light earthbending to ensure no harm had come to his earth senses from overreaching his abilities. Duo spent the three days mostly hip-deep in the ocean, often with Trowa beside him; as waterbending and airbending had certain inherent similarities, Trowa was a helpful presence for Duo, utterly non-judgmental about Duo's lack of experience with his own element, and he was calm and quiet when inadvertent splashing occurred. Trowa also proved willing to take Duo out on Triton when either of them felt too constrained as they waited for news. Wufei did his own training on the beach, as much with the long sword he carried as with his own firebending.

When the unfamiliar sky bison flew over at last, depositing Quatre and Sada on the southernmost corner of the beach, the four gathered around him.

"So? How'd it go?" Duo practically bounced in Quatre's face.

"Give him some space," Heero admonished, seizing a shoulder and giving it a firm shove so Duo stumbled away. Quatre smiled at him gratefully when Duo wasn't looking.

"I will go and inform the others of the decision," Sada said, touching Quatre's arm once affectionately before striding away.

"Do you want the good news or the bad news first?" Quatre asked, running a hand through his bright hair, shining almost white in the setting sun. He appeared absolutely exhausted.

"Neither. Tea first," Trowa said solicitously. He grabbed Quatre's elbow and pulled him to the house, levying a reproving look at the others who followed. It was the work of a few moments to get him seated on a cushion with a cup of hot tea in his hands, which he drank gratefully. The other four settled around him on the porch, waiting. Wufei and Trowa took their own tea, Heero grimaced as he drank down another of Iria's potions to help him heal, and Duo slurped fruit-sweetened water from his cup noisily.

"The good news," Quatre began after a moment, "is that _eventually_ the Order agreed with the reality of our breaking off on our own. It took some persuading, but they have surrendered all control over Gundam Island to us. Well," he blushed slightly, "to me specifically. I'm the one they know, after all, and the one with whom they made the deal. Sada is going around the island now to let everyone else know that they either need to relocate or join us."

"Do you think anyone will stay?" Duo asked.

"I think so," Quatre nodded. "Sada. My sister. Those with ties to the Maganacs. A few others. There aren't many here to begin with, and most of them are connected to me anyway."

"Quatre, did you create this island?" Wufei asked shrewdly.

"No," Quatre shook his head with a wry smirk. "I'm not _that_ powerful. But I might have had something to do with finding most of the people who came here."

"Of course you did," Duo tossed his head, smiling.

"Anyway," Quatre cleared his throat, "we have what we were looking for, I think. From the Order at least."

"So what's the bad news?" Heero looked at him, eyes narrowing.

Quatre let out a gusty sigh and detailed the information he had gathered, including the new laws being implemented across the Earth Kingdom to control the presence of firebenders. He also described Relena Peacecraft's first speech, and the increasing pressure from the Fire Nation for its own independence-seeking members to stand down or risk a full armed invasion.

"Foolish and unjust!" Wufei spat angrily when he had finished. "Not to mention dishonorably hypocritical. To treat all firebenders as criminals by virtue of their bending? What can they possibly hope to gain out of it?"

"It has to be the work of the Black Lotus," Heero said. "It's the only explanation."

"I think so too," Quatre nodded. "But other than stirring up trouble, I don't yet know why they would bother."

"Whatever it is, we're not gonna like it," Duo put in. Then, after a moment, his eyes sharpened. "You don't think this could have something to do with the Avatar, do you?"

"What do you mean?" Wufei tensed.

"Well, I mean, the next Avatar would have been a firebender, right? Could they be, you know, setting it up so that maybe if the Avatar _isn't_ gone after all and they found him or her, to make the Avatar mad at the Old Four?"

"You're suggesting the Avatar has been reborn as a firebender and lives in the Earth Kingdom in secret?" Trowa asked. "I don't know if it's possible. But if it is, this would certainly be one way to ensure that they would side with the Black Lotus against the Earth Kingdom."

"There _is_ _no_ _Avatar_." The venom in Wufei's voice drew a chill silence for a moment.

"You don't know that," Heero objected then. "We all believe the cycle was broken when Avatar Yuy died in a vulnerable state as reported by the witnesses present, but there is always a chance…"

"The Avatar is _GONE_!" Wufei roared. "The Avatar is gone forever when it should have been me!"

"What do you mean, should have been…?" Duo started.

"I was born the day the Avatar died," Wufei answered angrily, bitterly, half-snarling and half near to tears. "The next Avatar should have been a firebender, and there were two of us born that day. _Only_ two of us. Believe me, I have seen the records of the exhaustive search throughout the world, not just within the Fire Nation. We were raised alongside the Fire Sages practically from birth, with the Sages and spiritual masters and curious nobles from all over the world giving us trials, sending us through the spiritual realms, training us, even pitting us against one another for _years_. Meiran and I failed every test. We were the last hope, and we failed."

"Wufei, what happened?" Quatre's voice was gentleness itself.

"Some members of the Black Lotus decided that we could be used as figureheads or symbols or even as a fake Avatar somehow after it was determined neither of us had inherited the Avatar soul. We were just children when they came for us. I'll never know if they wanted to kill us or take us with them to join their cause by force if necessary. We fought them. Meiran killed many of them herself, even at eight years old. She would have been the greatest firebender alive today, but it was too much for her. She died in my arms because I could not protect her from them or from the power of her own bending."

He glowered furiously. "So don't tell me that there _might_ be an Avatar alive somewhere. There isn't. The only possible candidate left is me, and I'm nobody's savior. I'm not here to unite the world. I'm here to defeat those who killed Meiran."

"It's not your fault, Wufei. That she died or that you aren't the Avatar." Trowa moved as if to put a hand on his arm, but froze and dropped his hand instead.

Wufei turned away. He had heard the words before, even from the remembered voice of Meiran that haunted his memory and seemed to serve as his conscience, but they were somehow never true enough for him to believe.

Duo looked like he was going to press his theory anyway, but a sharp glare from Heero silenced him. Instead, he shuffled about a little awkwardly, then cleared his throat. "Okay, so what's our next move then?"

"I think," Quatre said after a moment, "that for now we should wait."

"Wait for what?"

"Right now," Quatre looked into his teacup, swirling the liquid he hadn't finished, "Republic City is planning something. I don't know what, but I think Relena Peacecraft is going to make a move. The Earth Kingdom has set their course but they aren't advancing very fast, and neither is the Fire Nation. I think the best part we can play as events unfold is to be prepared to react when we are needed."

"That seems very passive," Trowa put in disapprovingly. Then he smirked, because it was also exactly the course of action an Air Nomad would suggest, and he found it amusing that it wasn't his first choice. He really was the worst Air Nomad of airbenders.

"We cannot be the center around which the world turns," Wufei said, having brought himself visibly back to his usual control. "Quatre is correct. If we act now, we may tip the situation into the hands of our enemies. But when they make a step," his eyes became flinty, "we will appear from the shadows to rip the ground out from beneath their feet."

The others nodded.

-==OOO==-

"My sources have brought me very disturbing news from Republic City. There will soon be an even greater strength in those who oppose us, and I cannot permit that to stand unchallenged. Your uncle is proving to be as ineffective as always at obeying my commands."

"Send me, then, Grandfather. I will not fail you."

"No, I know you will not, for you are of the same fire as myself, Dorothy, and more cunning than your uncle as well. Go, then. Go to Republic City. Control that Peacecraft if you can. Act if you must. You have my full support. Defend our nation and crush our enemies."

"Yes, Fire Lord. It will be my pleasure."

-==OOO==-

Five men sat around a table, firelight flickering off to one side, but the room was still uncommonly dim. The five did not even greet one another – they just took seats and stared at the space between one another. After a time, the last to arrive spoke, shifting the lenses on the bridge of his nose as he cleared his throat.

"We failed."

"Well obviously," snapped a second. "Given that they are still alive and beyond our reach now."

"And they will be more difficult to ambush now," the third spoke more softly. "We must find a new way to lure them out."

"That will not be difficult," said the fourth. When the others turned in his direction, he smiled slowly. "Have you not seen the latest information?"

He pulled a scroll from within his robes and passed it around the table.

"Where did this come from?" demanded the last of the five in his rumbling voice.

"I have my own sources. This is an exact copy of the resolution passed in Republic City less than a day ago. It will be made known publicly soon, but before then we should have time to prepare. There is an obvious course of action that will grant us success." The fourth sat back smugly. "There is only one place to which they will go once this is announced and the pieces fall into place from it."

"I have contacts in place," said the fifth. "I can handle the situation on the ground."

"But how do you know they'll come?" the third asked as he slid the scroll along to the next man. "Should we really trust all our planning to one city when they may move anywhere?"

Here, the first man grinned brightly. "Oh, they'll go where we expect. They don't even yet realize their weakness. Trusting fools. We will crush them yet."

At last the scroll was passed to the second of the men to have spoken, the final one of them to receive it, and he peered at it over his long nose. The last few lines caused his eyebrows to raise almost into his bushy hair.

"… _And therefore, it is hereby the decision of the Council of Republic City to offer to any city, island, faction, or politically-aligned region membership in our nation. From this day forth, Republic City shall consist not only of its own city-state, but a conglomerate of any who wish to join the affiliation we found today: The United Republic of Nations. To all who seek freedom and self-determination, we open our borders, our support, our philosophy, and our hearts..._ "

-==OOO==-

"...I know this may come as a surprise to you," Relena called out as she could see the crowd reacting to the proclamation, "but I trust that you see and know the value of our decision. The world is fracturing in fear. Let Republic City be the force of unity!"

The crowd did not voice approval as they had during her last address a few days prior, but she expected that. She took a moment to breathe, to glance to Pagan at one side, to Noin standing openly on the other. Then she looked back at the gathered people and smiled.

"We were all wanderers once. We, or our parents, or our grandparents, or our great-grandparents – we all came to Republic City because we belonged together rather than behind the walls and gates of some other nation. We all followed a path of peace.

"Courage is not gaining peace and security. Courage is extending it to others. And I know," she threw her arms out as her voice grew in strength, "I _know_ the people of Republic City are courageous!"

There – now they were shouting again.

"Republic City will be the start, the seed of the United Republic of Nations. From our oneness and courage and peace, we will build a home for all who seek the same. Be they cities or islands or nomadic wanderers, we offer the spirit of all that makes Republic City great, the symbols of unity that surround us. Take this spirit and these symbols and carry them to all who wish for themselves our banner and our path!

"Let Republic City be the seed and root and trunk of a tree that will branch across the world as a true United Republic of Nations!"

As the crowd surged, Relena breathed a sigh.

"This means war, you know," Noin said softly from behind her. She'd said it before, too, but nothing had dissuaded Relena or the Council.

"I hope not," she returned. Then she glanced at Pagan and added, "But if it does, then we will stand firm. We will hold to our people and our unity no matter the forces that wish to divide us."

"What about peace?" Noin asked.

"Father was a true pacifist," Relena said softly. "I carry his legacy. I will always speak for peace, no matter the cost."

"But if violence comes to us," Pagan smiled at Noin with a sharp expression, "then the Council will meet it unflinchingly. Relena Peacecraft must always advise wisdom and gentleness. We old grouchy men, on the other hand, will fight."


	17. Raising the Stakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "The Gundams have to do what the Gundams have to do," Quatre shook his head. "We must make the most strategically sound move now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: horrible cliff-hanger ahead. Plead with me and I might post early to spare you.
> 
> Sorry. Couldn't resist.
> 
> In other news, reader DaughterofDante took my challenge to make an AMV to "Remember the Name" and posted it on YouTube! It;s under Gundam Wing - Remember the Name by Rhode Jugäs. I actually fell off my couch upon learning I had inspired an AMV. No, seriously, I did. So THANK YOU DaughterofDante! Awesome highlight to my week to be sure.
> 
> Enjoy the ride!

"Omashu has declared independence," Sada strode into the house without preamble, not even knocking at the door. It was a testament to the speed of the Gundams' reflexes that not one of the benders struck him from their ready stances at the unexpected intrusion.

"Omashu?" Wufei tipped his head. "With the proclamation by Republic City, I expected someone would be the first, but I would not have suspected such an ancient Earth Kingdom stronghold."

"You must remember, Omashu has a very large population of firebenders," Sada said gravely. "Not only has the city long spoken in favor of independence, but the new oppression from the Earth Kingdom has caused great strife throughout the city."

"Will they be joining the United Republic with Republic City?" Heero wanted to know.

"It appears not," Sada began pulling out a thick sheaf of parchment. "You know that Omashu is run not by a king but by a regent, right? That regent is Earth King Noventa's cousin, Sylvia. She's young for it, but she was the only person the powerful leaders in the city would accept at the time. As of this latest message, Sylvia has been removed from power, and has retreated with the loyalist forces of the military just outside the city. But no move has been made to align with Relena Peacecraft in any way."

"So who declared independence?" Trowa asked.

"Omashu is home to some of the most powerful merchant families in the Earth Kingdom," Sada explained. "Many of these families are actually one, as the most powerful of them all was blessed with a plethora of daughters, most of whom married into the other merchant families in the area. They have long supported independence in general, and the firebenders in particular."

"Because firebenders are important for their commerce," Wufei said. "Firebenders and earthbenders both can forge works of metal, but firebenders speed up the process and improve the quality. A merchant would be foolish to anger the firebenders if they wished to keep their ships and goods."

"Precisely," Sada agreed. "But for that reason they also do not wish to join Republic City, knowing that it won't be long before the Fire Nation extends its declaration of war there as well."

"How has the Earth Kingdom responded?" Heero crossed his arms, frowning.

"Not well. The loyalist troops were expelled from the city but they have not retreated. The Earth King's army has an outpost not far from Omashu that is already moving to support them."

"So it really is war time, huh?" Duo sat up from where he had been lounging. "I guess our waiting is over." He glanced over at Quatre.

"Quatre," Sada began slowly, "I know that…"

"The Gundams have to do what the Gundams have to do," Quatre shook his head. "We must make the most strategically sound move now." He stood up and started to pace. "Omashu is important. It's wealthy, influential, and well-integrated between different peoples. Like a smaller Republic City, but deep in Earth Kingdom lands. If Omashu successfully breaks away, others will take their chance, either joining them or the United Republic."

He stopped and looked up. "But all that doesn't necessarily mean we should get involved."

"What are our enemies doing?" Heero nodded. "We must fight the correct battle, not the one that is before us."

"The Black Lotus doesn't appear to be moving," Sada answered. "Which does not mean they aren't moving, but we have no reports of it yet."

"This would be a difficult situation for the Black Lotus to use well," Wufei said thoughtfully. "If what they seek is to promote a war, they need do little or nothing and battle will erupt regardless. If they wish for a particular outcome, they would have started the fighting themselves."

"What about the Mechanists?" Duo spoke up.

"I have no word from them, but from what I know of them, I suspect they would attempt to involve themselves except that there is no time. Omashu is simply too far from North Point for them to reach it before the Earth Kingdom forces do."

"So perhaps this is not where we should be taken either," Trowa put in. "This battle will determine the course of the war. Perhaps we ought to let the people choose for themselves. It's their freedom in question, after all."

"Cat, why are you so quiet this time?" Duo asked. When the others looked at him in surprise, he shrugged. It wasn't his fault if nobody else was paying attention.

"My family is from Omashu," Quatre answered after a moment. The words were not being dragged out of him – it was more like he was releasing a silent burden. "My father is one of those who would have made the decision to move for independence. And he's also a part of the Order of the White Lotus."

A thoughtful silence fell. Quatre huffed a sigh and spoke again. "As Gundams, we have to be careful. We want to stop the Order of the Black Lotus, and I think," he glanced around for confirmation, "we want to help anybody fighting for independence from the Old Four. But we can't be drawn into the wrong fight."

"Quatre, is your family in danger?" Wufei asked, pinning the golden-haired empath with his eyes.

"Possibly." Quatre smiled a little wryly. "I'm not the only Raberba who gets involved in fights bigger than myself."

"Then we should go."

Everyone looked at Duo, whose face had become solid and sober in a way it very rarely was.

"I mean it!" he protested. "OwlCat already saved your life," he pointed at Heero, "and yours," he pointed at Wufei, "and he _bought_ _us an island_. The least we can do is step in when his family is in trouble fighting for the same thing we are. Even if we don't do it as Gundams, we can still make sure nothing bad happens to Cat's family at least."

"Duo," Quatre began. But at the fierce look on the waterbender's face, Quatre found himself smiling. "Thank you."

"It is the honorable course of action," Wufei nodded. Trowa nodded too.

Heero stood up. "Mission accepted."

-==OOO==-

It took them a few days to gather their supplies and ride Triton all the way to Omashu. Triton was a bit larger than most sky bison, and thus he needed to rest less often than another of his kind, and he also moved more quickly through the sky. While Trowa mostly sat on Triton's head and kept watch, the other three benders spent their time on the broad saddle working together.

The time had come to create a new mask for Heero.

Quatre provided a basic design and the raw pieces of metal, but it was earthbending, firebending, and a touch of waterbending that produced the final product. Heero could do the majority of the bending himself, but with Wufei to heat the metal, they were able to make it lighter and stronger. Duo drew up seawater or cloud-water and cooled the metal, as well as smoothing it out. It took most of a day, but when they finished they had a mask finer than any of the others.

Where Heero's old mask had been of an ancient Earth Kingdom warrior, the new one was a unique design, more streamlined than the previous, with an odd echo of Fire Nation in the faceplate and a shine to it that seemed to reflect light as water. Inspired, the trio of benders took to each of the remaining masks, not replacing them, but enhancing them. Trowa's blank mask became an entire shimmery surface that was almost mirrored. Quatre's spirit mask gained a set of symbols on the cheeks reminiscent of crossed shotels. Duo's unagi mask became blackened and much more sinister. Wufei's sun warrior mask took on a brighter, stronger color.

And each mask, on the inside where the metal was pressed against the forehead of its wearer, gained a carved symbol as a reminder – the mark of Gundam Island.

The trip was not idle for anyone, even those not working at bending metal while flying through the air, as hawks came in and out at a rapid pace delivering news and updates. By the time they had crossed the sea and were making their way inland, the five knew as much about the politics of Omashu as if they had lived there a month. And if no one remarked that, of the many hawks that delivered messages, not one was Sandrock, that was pure kindness on their part.

They reached Omashu at night, which served them well. Quatre directed Triton to a grand courtyard, the terrace of his own ancestral home. Or mansion, as it seemed when they arrived. It had been a moment of rather wide-eyed surprise when the four benders had learned that Quatre Raberba was the only son of Zayeed Raberba, and that it was the Raberba family who effectively ran Omashu and half the Earth Kingdom besides with their vast wealth, resources, and connections.

"Cat, I gotta say, you sure know how to live in the city," Duo breathed. "Remind me again why you hang out in a hut on an island?"

"Because that is where we are safe," Wufei reminded him sharply. "And you already knew that. And the house on Gundam Island is not a _hut_ , you rude child."

"He's right," Heero nodded. "About being safe anyway. We must be on our guard." He smiled very slyly at Duo, but did not voice the taunt so clearly written in his eyes.

"Come with me," Quatre said, leading the way. Down a side-street just wide enough for Triton to pass, a large door met them. "When my father hosts traders, they often come in on sky bison. There won't be any here now." Indeed, the bison-sized stable was airy and well-stocked with sweet grasses, but empty. Trowa made Triton comfortable while the others unloaded their supplies.

"What is the plan?" Heero asked.

"We should stay here tonight," Quatre said. "I'll go to my father in the morning and you can spread out through the city to see what you can learn. Perhaps we won't be needed, but if the Earth Kingdom force out front is any indication, there will be fighting here soon enough."

"When that happens," Wufei said softly, "I believe it is in our best interest to protect the populace rather than join in the battle itself. Independence and strength must be won, but the innocent should not be caught in the way."

"Agreed," Trowa nodded.

As they were bedding down to one side of the massive room, crafting nests for themselves from the hay not being eaten, a particular hawk's cry from outside startled Quatre so much he scattered his bedding as he leaped to his feet.

"Sandrock!"

Quatre joyfully – and heedless of anything else – bolted from the place and out into the night air, only vaguely cognizant of the other Gundams following him much more watchfully. When he reached the open area in front of the house, Quatre threw his arm up with a bright whistle.

But the bird had not even fully alighted on his arm before his face was crumpling with disappointment. "It's not him," Quatre said softly. "This is one of my father's Order hawks. She's Sandrock's mate." The hawk, however, noticed no sadness and instead rubbed her head on Quatre's insistently. That earned a slight huff of laughter. "Greetings to you too, Kai. It's been a while."

"If it's Order business, perhaps we should read the message," Trowa said.

"It might be merchant business instead," Quatre warned. "Father uses her for that, too."

"Then you read it," Heero suggested. "And tell us only what we need to know."

But a sudden noise at a window sent all five Gundams into the shadows for cover. Quatre kept Kai pulled close as he retreated with the others back to where Triton had eaten Heero's bedding and was starting in on Wufei's. It took them some time to stop the grumbling and rearrange the hay once again, during which Kai seemed utterly content to remain with Quatre. No one was particularly surprised – hawks mated for life and tended to bond to specific people very tightly. To both Quatre and Kai, the other was the closest to Sandrock they could get. When Quatre offered to take the first watch in order to stay up with her longer, no one argued.

Which is how he only remembered to look at the message Kai carried well after the others were asleep.

He found several interesting documents amidst the heavy roll of scrolls she had carried on her back, but one startled him so badly he dropped it. Blinking disbelief and rising fury from his eyes, he retrieved it and read it again. The fury solidified in his stomach.

"Kai," Quatre whispered, "I need you to take a message for me tonight and bring it right back. Will you please?"

The hawk, bluer in the tail than her mate but otherwise similarly colored, ducked her head and chirped at him happily.

When Trowa woke for his turn at watch, he found Quatre waiting at the doors which stood very slightly open. Quatre explained that he had sent Kai on a quick mission and that he would wait for her to return before he slept. Trowa did not question him, but gave him his privacy – the airbender knew without being told that Quatre did not want someone keeping him company that very moment. So the night watches continued with Quatre at the door and whichever of the benders was awake at the other end of the room. Only Wufei tried to talk Quatre into sleeping, which he refused. If they had compared notes, the other four would have realized that Kai had returned and gone out again more than once during the course of the night, and not once did Quatre relinquish his vigil until close to dawn.

Kai actually snapped at the benders and Triton when they tried to wake Quatre in the morning proper, earning him a great deal more sleep than he had expected. When he finally roused himself, he was subdued, but explained it away by the late night. He quietly finished what provisions they had brought for the morning's meal while the others took turns feeding their bedding to Triton.

"So you're gonna see your dad today," Duo said cheerfully, swinging his legs from where he had climbed into the rafters and challenged Trowa to an acrobatics contest, which he had soundly lost, of course.

"Yes," Quatre said. "We will probably be most of the day discussing things. The rest of you shouldn't wait for me."

"We won't," Heero said decisively. "We will assess the current threat and position ourselves to do what we must whenever the attack comes."

"I will join you when I can," Quatre nodded.

"Just follow the really loud fire and you'll find Wufei. He sticks out like a lemur in a pond of gatorfish," Duo smirked. Trowa rolled his eyes and blasted some air in his direction, causing Duo to have to flail to keep his balance.

"Take care of yourselves, all of you," Quatre said as he got to his feet and shook his clothing straight. Kai made a noise that was rather sharp before launching herself to his shoulder. "Yes, we're going now."

He bowed to them before making his way out the big door.

"What's up with Cattie?" Duo asked, dropping from the rafters at last. "Something in those scrolls?"

"It troubles him greatly," Wufei said, "but he will tell us if he so chooses."

"We've got work to do," Heero stood and gathered up his mask. "Worry about Quatre later."

-==OOO==-

At the doors to his father's study, Quatre paused. He almost wished Kai had not flown off to the eyrie for breakfast and was still with him, a comforting presence. Unlike the host of servants who had to be ordered, repeatedly, to say nothing to their master about Quatre's unexpected appearance at the house.

He took a deep breath and knocked.

"Come in."

Quatre did not hesitate but stepped into the room and closed the door softly behind him. As he faced into the broad study, he unconsciously straightened his shoulders and lifted his chin. There was pride in his eyes, but his lips were pressed tightly together to keep his expression still.

"Hello father."

"Quatre," the brown-haired man at the other end of the bright, opulent room looked up, face creasing deeply. "Why are you here now?"

"Omashu is still my home, father," Quatre said, crossing the thick carpet and coming to stand before the broad desk. "Unless I am no longer welcome."

"You know well I would never bar you from here, no matter our disagreements," Zayeed Raberba frowned even more. "But you could not have chosen a worse time to appear."

"That is a matter of opinion, father. From my perspective, there is no better time to be here."

"Your _perspective_ is still untried and naïve, Quatre. You have no idea what you have done with your most recent stunt." He scowled.

"Which stunt do you mean, father?" Quatre asked archly. "Because if you refer to my work in the Order…"

"You know that I do."

"Then you should know that it was the only choice left to me. Either I had to act or I would be guilty of permitting an even greater error to be made."

"What exactly do _you_ know of it?" the elder Raberba said sharply, rising out of his chair. "You cannot hope to comprehend the plans you have thrown asunder! All because you have been turned from truth by your alliance to the masks."

"You're wrong, father," Quatre returned hotly. "You have been blinded by the Order. They are so focused in their war against the Black Lotus, they have utterly lost the direction of their original charge – to serve and protect the unity of the world. I will not help to undermine an alliance between independents and Mechanists that may pave the way to peace just to strike an imagined blow that will not harm our enemies anyway!"

"We can argue the politics of the situation until the sun runs backwards," his father snapped, "but in the end, the truth that you _conveniently_ ignore is that you have betrayed the Order. You have thrown your lot in with the masks, a set of boys who know nothing of the world, and you know nothing of them!"

"Gundams, father," Quatre corrected in a tight voice. "After the shadows that surround us, can you truly blame us for wishing to be our own alliance rather than continue to serve like little soldiers marching for a general no one but me has even met?"

"The masks are just—"

"Don't tell me I don't know them, father!" Quatre spat. "I know all I need to know about them. It's _you_ I'm starting to wonder about." He sneered. "If I'm not mistaken, I would say you are keeping something from me that would have helped in my decision. _Again_."

"Quatre," Zayeed Raberba sank into his chair, his anger evaporating from his posture. "There's something you don't know."

"I imagine there's a _great deal_ I don't know," Quatre's anger had not abated even a little. "It was by pure accident that this message came to me. Your message. Explain this, father!" And he slammed a rolled-up parchment on the table.

"Quatre…son…"

"Tell me I'm misreading this!" Quatre growled, bending over the table. "Tell me I have misunderstood. Because this looks like an order to _kill the Gundams_."

"It is not my order, Quatre," his father said, face flushing. "You _know_ I would never ever condone murder, no matter the rightness of the cause. And I would never agree to an order to kill you, Quatre. _Never_."

"I want to know where this came from, father," Quatre vibrated with rage. "I want to know everything. And there are some things I have already learned, so be wary if you choose to leave out a critical detail."

"Some of those details may be sensitive, Quatre, and to share them could endanger…"

"No!" Quatre shouted, surprising them both. "No, you _don't_ get to tell me about the greater good and the triumph of peace, not when I can see the plans for the ambush in Republic City writ large right here. Our presence was deliberately leaked to our enemies to ensure that they would strike at us in force. It was _never_ the Order of the Black Lotus that tried to kill us there. It was _you_."

"Not me, Quatre," his father squared his shoulders and met his son's flashing eyes with his own fire. "But a faction of the Order that has long troubled me."

"You mean the Five."

His father was surprised. "You know about the Five?"

"I told you," Quatre replied with a dark superiority, "I know more than you think I do."

"Then let us pool our information," Zayeed said, some of the anger leaching away again. "Let us have no more secrets. Between the two of us, we may be able to right this before it goes too far."

Quatre let some of his own anger drain away, and he pulled one of the chairs close to the desk so he could lean over it. "I have to know if I can trust you, father," he said, and the sadness was evident through his waning fury. "I have to know if you are like the Five."

"No, Quatre. Never."

Blue-green eyes met grey-brown. Quatre's dropped first and tension fell away from his shoulders.

"All right, father. I believe you."

"For what it's worth," Zayeed reached across the table and gripped his only son's arm, "I understand your feelings and your mistrust. Were I in your position, I might have reacted the same, though I still do not agree with your choice."

"My feelings don't matter," Quatre shook himself and schooled his expression to one many years beyond his age, "but the truth does. I have to know what you know, as quickly as you can tell me."

"Very well."

-==OOO==-

Wufei stopped in his walk along the top of the wall. "Here."

"I agree," Heero said. "This is the best place."

They looked down to where the Earth Kingdom forces were clearly amassing a staging-area for an attack. Omashu, built as it was as part of a mountaintop, was thoroughly defensible, but less so to earthbenders. The Earth Kingdom forces had raised a series of plateaus to give them a staging area away from the main door into the city. It seemed that in addition to the army there was a strong contingent of city guards who had defected along with Regent Sylvia.

"It will happen any time now," Trowa said. "They are more than ready."

Duo glanced at the position they'd taken. They were out of the direct line of combat between those forces and the men and women lining the walls to defend Omashu. Many of those standing to protect the city were firebenders and earthbenders, and several also wore the uniform of the city guards, making for a messy situation in which friend and foe might be mistaken for one another. Except for the firebenders – none of them seemed to have sided with the Earth Kingdom.

From here, the four Gundams could intervene if the fighting spread from that first point of contact out into the city. They were a few levels up with a clear view to the battlefield. To their left was the main gate into the city, heavily fortified. It would be impractical for the fighting to spill to the other side of the single passage up to the city's walls. To the far right, that was where they would be needed, where the wall curved away and the first structures beyond it were not barracks or warehouses but rather homes and public buildings. From their vantage point, if the Gundams saw anyone from the outside beginning to make an attack on that side, they would be there to hold the right flank and keep the fight away from the people.

At noon, a massive boulder launched over the wall heralded the beginning of the battle for Omashu.

-==OOO==-

"It's my fault." Quatre sat back, defeated. He bowed his head and covered his face. "How could I have been so blind?"

"It's not only your fault, son," his father said lowly. "Any of us could have prevented this. But we all failed to see what was so clear to you. But then," he smiled wryly, "none of us had your particular insight, either."

"How can I…?" Quatre began, feeling more broken every minute.

"Quatre, son, look at me."

The golden head tipped up and Quatre dropped his hands, revealing a moon-pale, distraught face.

"This is _not your fault_. _None_ of this is your fault. What happens now is up to us, and believe me, I intend to make this right." There was that familiar decisive strength as Zayeed drew himself up in his chair, looking less like the head of the single most powerful merchant family in the world and more like he was a king in truth instead of purely in wealth and influence.

"But…"

"It's not as bad as it appears, remember," he interrupted Quatre. "The only new information here is concerned with the past. The present situation has not changed. And while I still think your actions were rash and unwise, I begin to understand your mistrust of the Order. I think perhaps the Gundams will be better served a little apart from this madness, and I'm proud of you for taking action when faced with such bitter truths."

He rose from his place and strode around the desk, pausing at the chair in which Quatre still sat, shaken and troubled. He reached down and tousled the bright hair as he had not done since Quatre had been a child.

"What are you going to do, father?"

"I will not permit the Order to continue on this path. I will show them what you have shown me and I will bend my considerable resources to correcting what has been done. You," he smiled down at his son, "are not the only one capable of fighting injustice when you find it."

Zayeed strode forward, not towards the main hall but the door that led to his private eyrie where his many hawks would be waiting. Quatre sat, looking over the papers on the desk once more before suddenly his heart constricted horribly.

Wrongness. Hatred. Danger!

In a panic, Quatre dashed up the stairs after his father.

"Father!" he shouted, terror mounting at the crashing, churning emotions blasting into him from all sides. He could barely see the stairway he was so blinded by what his heart was reading around him, and a distant part of his mind wondered how he was not howling in pain.

He skidded to a halt at the top of the steps.

From the height of the tower, he could see that a battle had erupted at the edge of Omashu, and even the distance could not hide that it was a strange mix of Earth Kingdom forces, Omashu independents, and the Omashu's own city guard. But that was only a vague backdrop to what he found before him.

Seven men clad in black stood on the rooftop surrounding the eyrie, obviously having scaled the walls to reach what should otherwise have been a secure location. Zayeed Raberba had frozen in the act of reaching for one of his hawks. At Quatre's cry, he turned back.

"Don't, son," he said softly, and he smiled incongruously against the peril. His face showed wisdom worthy of a thousand years, and gentleness as well. "Don't."

Then one of the Black Lotus agents gestured and a blade ripped through his throat.

" _FATHER_! _NO_!"

Quatre was moving before he could even stop himself, charging between the enemies and catching his father's body as he slid to the tiles. Quatre wrapped his hands around his father's chest, feeling the hot blood flowing over his arms. Zayeed moved his mouth a few times as if to speak, but with his throat laid open no sound emerged but a hissing, wet choke.

"Father…" Quatre bent to touch his forehead to his father's face, tears wetting both their cheeks. "Father, please don't leave me, not now…"

And he made a great tactical error.

Quatre reached out with his soul, his empathy drawing himself close to his father's heart, cradling him and bringing their emotions and their heartbeats into unison. For a moment there was no division – son and father, man and boy – they were one in their love and sorrow and fear and acceptance.

And in that moment of connection and oneness, Zayeed Raberba's heart stopped and his life winked out.

-==OOO==-

It was Duo who felt something strange lurch in his chest, as if his bending had gone suddenly haywire. He looked up from the fight towards the direction from which he felt the tug, a trickle of fear chilling him as he realized he was looking at the grand Raberba mansion. He didn't remember yelling, but he obviously had because in moments the other Gundams had joined him in turning, freezing in the midst of watching the battle. But many of those below froze, too, as they became aware of what was occurring high above.

At this distance, they could only hear the vaguest sound, but Trowa gasped, his ears catching more on the wind than the others could. When three other Gundams turned to him, he reached into the air and pulled. And the echoes of those sounds began to spin around them like a whirlwind.

Broken, unbearable, _inhuman_ screaming. And that inhuman sound had Quatre's voice.

Before they could react, there was a feeling like soundless thunder and the very ground shook. Duo spotted a set of dark forms falling from the rooftop like broken dolls and he didn't need to extend his own blood-senses to know they were dead. Besides, that was like the pebbles that roll down a hillside before the avalanche compared to what came next.

A streak like a twisted ribbon of fire lit up the sky for a moment as black clouds swirled in the afternoon light, drawn towards that screaming as they blacked out the sky. The streak seemed to grow brighter and stronger the longer it moved amidst the clouds, but then, like a bolt of lightning, the steak touched the rooftop with an audible fizzle and light flashed brighter than the sun for an instant. And when the Gundams blinked the glare from their eyes and looked, they met a horrifying visage.

It might have resembled one of the ancient dragons, if that dragon had traded everything of serenity and grace and strength and beauty for mangled ugliness. The face bore long fangs that were turned outwards in a menacing grin, and a mane of yellow fire ran from its black horns to midway down the undulating back. The creature was perched on the rooftop, its head thrown back, and it began to roar.

"What is it?" Heero demanded.

"It's a spirit," Wufei answered.

"Yeah, we figured that out!" Duo shot back. "Why is it here and what is it doing?"

"I think we may be about to find out," Trowa said slowly. Indeed, the creature was beginning to flow along the rooftops as it moved towards them.

And when it came closer, they could see that the spirit was not alone.

"Quatre!"


	18. Walking Ghosts, Fading Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It's so clear now! It's never been so clear! I thought we could save the world by taking part in a war, or by supporting good people. But I was wrong!" His voice cracked. Quatre's eyes were unbelievably wide, his usually gentle face twisted with fanatical glee. He threw his arms up and leaned back to grin at the sky. "Don't you see? The only real unity is death. The world is filled with madness instead of truth. But I can fix it. I can fix it all!"
> 
> "If the world is filled with madness, I will trust myself and keep fighting for what I believe in," Heero warned, "even if it means I must fight you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, because I was evil and didn't give this to you sooner, I'll make up for it by posting two chapters tonight. Is that fair?
> 
> If I haven't said it enough, I love every one of you who has read, commented, given kudos, and oh, ye gods, made art or speculated about what's going on or broadened this world in your own minds. You readers are the greatest gift any writer could ever ask for. Thank you for being there!
> 
> Enjoy!

Wufei could feel the heat of the flames licking at him everywhere. He swung an arm and the nearest bits of burning wood went out with a poof. He turned back to the figure crouched on the ground.

"Meiran!" he skidded to her side as she pitched forward. Wufei caught her and shook her a little. "Don't give up!"

"I'm not going to," she said, and her face was laughing at him. She was _always_ laughing at him.

"They're gone now," Wufei said, looking around to make sure he was telling the truth. "I think they're all dead. You killed a lot of them."

"You got a few yourself," she replied, but her skin felt awfully cold and her hands were shaking. "Not bad, little brother. Your technique still needs work, though. You forgot to plant your root again."

"I'm not your brother," he replied automatically as he always did to that taunt. "And I'm not littler than you either."

"No…I guess not," she shuddered. "Maybe you were always my other half. Maybe you were always wise and kind where I was angry and strong."

"You're not making sense," Wufei accused as he got angrier without knowing why. He gathered the long sleeve of his Sage's robe and scrubbed roughly at the blood on her temple.

"It doesn't matter anymore," she said, and a tremor ran through her whole body in spite of the heat of the fires. "I always did know you better than you know yourself. You're too easy to read, Wu-Wu. You're scared, and that's okay. I'm scared too," she whispered this last very softly.

"Don't be," Wufei tossed his head, refusing to respond to her other nickname for him. "The Fire Sages will come soon. They'll help us. There's nothing to be scared of."

"They won't be here soon enough. It's okay. I…I think I see it now. Oh, Wufei," and her eyes were suddenly bright with strange joy, "they were wrong all along. The Avatar's not dead. He's alive in you, in all of you. The cycle's not broken at all with everyone alive."

"What do you mean?" Wufei demanded.

"Burn it, Wufei. Let the black burn. I'll be the one laughing in the smoke." Her eyes began to close.

"No, Meiran! No, don't die!"

"I'm not really dying, Wufei," she murmured, and he could barely hear her over the crackle of the fires. "I'll be there any time you firebend and forget your roots. Or any time you need somebody to thump you in the head. I'll be there when you find your own fire."

Her head lolled and her chest became still.

"No…" Wufei felt hot tears on his cheeks. A sudden breeze whisked them away in the heat of the inferno surrounding them.

Wufei looked up at a cracking and realized the temple's ceiling was caving in. He put his head down and wrapped his arms around Meiran tightly. He could tell she was dead – he could feel it. But he felt like his own fire had never been so angry and so strong all at once.

Wufei let out a scream and flame burst outward in every direction, an explosion that leveled the entire temple complex, leaving only himself in a massive burned-out ruin for the Sages to find, unconscious from his exhaustion and curled around her body.

-==OOO==-

In the shadows of a dry, desert town, mostly abandoned, a tiny form ducked from shadow to shadow, seeking shelter and survival. But the child's speed was not enough to evade detection.

"Gotcha!"

The young traveler yanked at the shirt he'd seized with a laughing face, drawing a smaller boy from his hiding place. He looked over the boy critically – violet eyes, unruly brown hair, and a stubborn, angry defiance writ in every line of his body.

"Whatdaya want?" the boy demanded, greedily eyeing the stranger's appearance. To an orphan alone in the arid land with nothing, even simple traveling clothes were amazingly luxurious.

"You're the one who stole my stuff, right?" the young man asked, smiling. "That was good thieving work. But I need it back. That stuff isn't mine."

"Not anymore," the kid made an attempt to kick his captor in the shins but missed.

"Tell you what," the stranger said, not letting go of the shirt he held but bending down to meet the boy's eyes. "Give it back, and I'll get you out of here. There's a much better city a ways off. You'd never make it there on your own, but you'll have an easier time surviving on your own when we get there." He smiled again. "You can trust me. I never tell a lie."

The boy considered, then shrugged. "Yeah, sure, okay."

"Got a name?"

"Nope."

"Well, I'm Solo. If you come up with a name, let me know, kiddo."

He'd been traveling with Solo for more than a year, learning to fight, meeting Solo's friends (like a crazy guy named Howard who seemed really smart and neat and just _gave_ away food – who does that?), learning to bend water a tiny bit when it was discovered he could, stealing to keep his hand in, and learning to bend his own energy from Solo – when Solo got sick. _Really_ sick.

"Sorry kid," Solo coughed, running a hand through the long brown hair his kid never wanted to cut for some reason. Solo found himself absently twining its length into a braid. "I think you better head out on your own this time."

"No way!"

"I'm not going to be there to watch your back much longer, kid. You know that right?"

"Yeah. You're dying." And he said it with such conviction in his young face it made Solo sad.

"Yeah. Something bad in those supplies. Leave them behind, kid, and don't touch them. You'll be okay. You're tough. And if you get hard up, go find Howard. He likes you. He'd let you join the Mechanists if you wanted."

But the boy shook his head. "No. Well, maybe. I dunno. I was always alone before."

"It's going to be different for you now, kiddo." Solo coughed again, and blood showed. The boy instinctively reached for his shoulder to bloodbend but Solo stopped him. "No. It's okay. Sometimes blood flows. Sometimes rivers dry up. Sometimes you gotta hurt. It's okay." He jammed his own fingers into a point below his ribcage and his breathing eased. "Promise me you'll at least stay friends with Howard."

"Yeah, sure." But the boy was rubbing at his face, and Solo, who knew him so well, could see the suffering in his too-wide eyes. The boy was a master at hiding his feelings, but no one could hide from death.

A sound from in the trees put them both on their guard. And Solo's face creased in a deep frown.

"Kiddo. You've got to go now. I'm not gonna lie to you. I've never lied to you. Somebody's coming and they'll kill you. Okay? Run and hide. And remember everything I taught you."

The next few moments were blurry, but the boy eventually woke from a strange mindless haze and found himself far away, huddled in the shadow of a boulder and wondering why his face felt wet. And he knew, knew in that endless terrible way that if he went back Solo would be dead. So he hung his head and let himself cry. But only for a moment.

Then he stood and pushed his tears away. "Solo said it's okay. His river dried up." He jammed his fingers into an arm to watch the blood constrict before releasing it, finding satisfaction in the ache, the familiar darkness of the feeling. "But mine didn't. So I'll be his river now. And together we're Duo."

-==OOO==-

"Do you know why we've called you in here today, Trowa?"

"No sir," the boy stood proudly.

The five monks of the secondary eastern air temple exchanged glances. Trowa had come to them with a group of traders who said they'd hired the boy to help them scout on their journey, but as he was obviously an airbender and already partway trained, they felt he should probably return to his people. But the puzzling thing was that none of the temples had known of the boy. He was at least twelve years old, though, and had an admirable grasp of his element for his age.

Air Nomads were nothing if not curious, however, and with a few months to investigate, they had learned that the young airbender had spent some time in the southern air temple and with more than a few of the wandering Nomad troops. No one really knew where he had come from – the earliest reports of a lone, unknown airbending boy spoke of a boy found in the breeding grounds of the sky bison, who had apparently lived there for some time anonymously. Undoubtedly, some of his unconventional airbending had been learned directly from the source.

"Young Trowa, we have summoned you to ask you to make a choice," the eldest of the monks said. "We would like to know if you would like to join the temple and become a true airbending master and an Air Nomad."

"Why should I?" was the response, but there was no rudeness or even belligerence in the question. Indeed, as was Trowa's way, he spoke quietly, thoughtfully, curiously, if a little dis-impassioned even for one of his people.

"You have the makings of a great airbender in your soul," the second-eldest said. "You need only complete your training and accept the mantle of the way of the Nomad."

"And what would it mean to be an Air Nomad?"

"You would learn about relinquishing the material world, about enlightenment and atonement."

"Atonement?"

"Well," the eldest said a little slowly, "we are aware that your life has...not been easy. We know you have been forced to defend yourself, and in doing so you have killed those who would harm you. This is not the way of the Nomad. You must learn to atone for what you have done, and to face the world with a new understanding so that you can walk the correct path towards detachment, reverence, and wisdom."

"Thank you, elders," Trowa stood unexpectedly and regarded them coolly, "but I will decline your offer to join the temple. I appreciate it," he bowed, "but I will continue to live my life as I alone see fit." He turned to go.

"If you refuse us," the second-eldest called after him, "you will never have a people of your own. You will be alone, always. Is your pride really worth that?"

Trowa did not answer them, and did not turn back, so none of them saw the fierce wetness on his face as he walked away. Only when Trowa had reached his favorite perch, a tiny waterspout high on the roof of the tallest of the temple's towers, did he let himself cry fully.

Because if the wind he followed carried him alone, at least then he would know it would never leave him breathless. Any other path would suffocate him for sure. And he would rather face a lifetime of the emptiness he'd carried since he left the sky bison grounds than lose his freedom to anyone or anything.

-==OOO==-

He wasn't supposed to be listening. This was a private meeting between Sifu Odin and that old man who often came to see him. But Heero couldn't help it – Sifu Odin had been so distracted lately, and he was worried. He hid himself outside the room, but slowly drew the stone forward until he had created a channel through which he could hear well enough.

"I want you to explain this order," his Sifu was saying angrily.

"The boy is special, Odin. He can do things you can only imagine. He's an immensely powerful earthbender."

"I know that better than you do, old man."

"Then you also know that he must be tested, pushed to his limits. He must be trained to be as solid and stoic as the earth itself. Only then will he reach his true potential."

"To what end?" Odin demanded. "What is it all for? The boy is my student. I will not see him come to any harm, and I will not let you push him down a path that is not his choice."

"It has nothing to do with choice. If he wishes to reach his true potential, he must do this."

"Old man, Heero is a child! You cannot send him on a mission like this alone! It could kill him!"

"All the better, then. He will face death and learn to face it fearlessly. And when the mission comes when it is time for him to die, he will not balk."

"Are you saying you intend to send him to die?" Odin's voice was loud enough to shake the walls.

"Someday. Not yet."

Heero stuffed a fist in his mouth and bit down. He was frightened, but he didn't know why. Maybe because Sifu Odin was so angry. Or maybe because it sounded like the old man wanted to make him do something scary. He forced himself not to cry, though. Earthbenders didn't cry – Heero knew that. It was part of being strong.

"You're _insane_!" Sifu Odin stomped on the ground. "You're insane and I will not let you poison the boy any farther. He is my responsibility and you know it. I will not permit you to send the boy to die!"

"That's too bad," the old man said, and he sounded like he was smiling. "Because that's his purpose, Odin. That boy's _only_ purpose is to die."

"Then I'm changing sides. Count me out of your madness, old man. I will not send my student to die, even for you. Even for your Order."

"You will regret it, Odin."

"I already do. Now get out before I carve a new door with your body!"

Heero raced back to the sleeping room with his fist still in his mouth. A little while later he heard Sifu Odin enter the room and stand over him. But his teacher said nothing and Heero held still until he went away again.

He sat up in the dark and hugged himself. "My only purpose is to die?"

-==OOO==-

Heero's eyes snapped open.

He sat up, rubbing at his forehead as images mashed together in his mind. Sifu Odin and the representative of the Order and very old pain – all of it pain. His heart still seemed to stutter with the ache of it even though it was so many years in his past. It felt as if it were yesterday.

A scream caught his attention and he forced himself to take in his surroundings. He had collapsed on the same rooftop where he'd been overlooking the battle for Omashu, and around him were the other three Gundam benders, all unconscious. He remembered trying to evade something awful, and a lot of yelling, and then nothing. Heero turned towards the screaming that had woken him and pushed to his feet at the sight that met his eyes.

The wicked spirit, carrying Quatre on its back, was crashing through the lines of Earth Kingdom soldiers outside the city's walls, and like a strong wind blowing down grass, with every pass more men and women collapsed, some dropping like stones, some screaming as they slid to the ground. As Heero watched, the spirit finished with the entire company outside the Omashu wall and turned, its head raised eagerly. Even at this distance, Heero could tell the spirit was looking for more victims.

"I've got to stop it," he said to himself. "I've got to get it away from the city." He turned and dropped to a knee beside Trowa, whom he began to shake quite harshly. "Wake up!" he commanded. "Wake up! We need that bison of yours!"

Trowa's eyes opened but were unseeing at first. Heero flicked a hand at the stone rooftop beneath them and a piece of the stone rose up, forcing Trowa into a sitting position. Heero shook him again.

"Wake up! Call Triton! We need a sky bison _now_!"

Finally Trowa's eyes snapped into clarity and he took in the scene with a swift, sweeping glance. He nodded and lifted two fingers to his lips, blowing a shrill, high note that echoed in the air.

Far above, there was an answering roar and a distant splintering of wood and stone when an enormous sky bison blasted his way out of his shelter and took to the sky. But the whistle had also gained the attention of the spirit below and the writhing body began to flow up the side of the city as water would flow down a cliff, trumpeting angrily.

"We've got to get it out of here," Heero said sharply. Triton appeared just then and Trowa got to his feet.

"What about them?" he looked back at Duo and Wufei who were still utterly unmoving.

"Take them with us," Heero decided. "They're too exposed here."

Trowa got an arm around each of them and sprang into the air, blowing beneath him to get the height he needed. He set both down on Triton's broad back, the saddle having been taken off the night before and not yet put back on. Heero launched himself onto the bison's back as well, turning just in time to pull up part of a wall when the spirit came near.

"Get us out of here!" Heero commanded, bracing his feet as best he could on the thick fur and reaching for more earth to draw forward.

"We've got to draw it off," Trowa replied. "Make it follow us."

Heero looked back at the monstrous face, then looked over it to where Quatre sat astride its back, his own face oddly blank and his eyes rolled up into his head.

"Quatre!" Heero shouted. "Quatre! _Wake up_!" He kicked a few pebbles in that direction in an attempt to rouse the empath out of his stupor, but the spirit deflected them before they struck him.

Trowa was rubbing his chest at the ache inside and a realization struck him. "It's a pain spirit!" he called. "It'll be drawn to suffering."

"That's why it's got Quatre now?" Heero called back.

"Probably. Get it to focus on you and it'll come after us."

Heero closed his eyes and reached to the part of himself that he normally kept buried. When he spoke again, he met the pain spirit's eyes evenly.

"If you want someone who knows pain, follow _me_. Do you know what you showed me, what vision you gave? Then read my heart. Know the pain of a life dedicated to death."

The spirit reared and suddenly took to the air, soaring after Triton who sped ahead without Trowa's urging. The spirit's face was twisted in a strange grimace, almost a grin.

"I'll take us somewhere we can deal with it," Trowa said. "Away from people."

Because the outlands of Omashu were at least somewhat populated, Trowa ended up having to fly for what felt like a long time, leading the pain spirit away from where it could do harm. When Heero began to falter and the spirit seemed to hesitate, Trowa opened his own heart and dove into his feelings of isolation and remorseless duty. He thought about the first time he had taken a life, and how he had wept afterwards but his heart had felt so cold. He'd never imagined that the guilt of that coldness would save him now.

On a rocky plain some distance away, Trowa guided Triton to the ground. An idea came to him and he focused on Heero for a moment. "Get Duo and Wufei to shelter. I'm going to try something."

Without looking to see if he was being obeyed, but reading Heero's movements in the wind, Trowa jumped from Triton and began to approach where the spirit undulated on the ground. It seemed be less solid now, and indeed, Quatre had slid from its back and was sitting blankly on the ground.

"That's right," Trowa forced his heart to keep screaming. "Let me close enough."

The pain spirit coiled around him eagerly, and the press of the too-hot scales, the yellow mane a burning fire, made him recoil as the ache in his heart grew infinitely worse with every touch. He no longer needed to fuel his heart directly – the spirit was doing that for him until his eyes swam with old tears and memories. So he focused on moving forward in spite of the desire to sob that tore at him.

At last he closed the distance and put a hand on Quatre's shoulder.

With the touch, Quatre's face came back to life, almost violently. The spirit roared and yellow fire shot in all directions. Trowa had to leap away to avoid being hurt but distance immediately cooled his aching emotions and he felt more real and less lost in himself. Even as the spirit seemed to become more and more incorporeal, more shadow than creature, its fire was still real enough.

Quatre swayed and got to his feet as though drunken.

"Quatre?" Trowa called. "Are you all right?"

"No," returned a voice that was shaking with emotion. "No, I'm broken. I'm dead. Didn't you know, Trowa? I died."

"You're not dead," he denied. "You're here. We're all here."

"You need to stop this, Quatre," that was Heero, stepping forward. Trowa risked a glance to the side to see that Heero had built a protective wall to shelter Wufei and Duo. Triton took one more look at the spirit and backed up until he was practically in the next valley over. Trowa couldn't blame him for that.

"Stop what?" Quatre asked. "I'm doing exactly what we came here to do. I saved Omashu. Didn't you see?" He giggled. "It was _easy_."

"We came here to protect your family and the city together," Trowa said, moving so that he and Heero were next to one another but spaced far enough apart that both could bend without interfering with the other. "Remember? We're Gundams now. We're a team."

"What does a team matter?" Quatre sneered. The spirit had taken to circling him, weaving over and under itself like a knot, and each time it brushed Quatre's body, he would shudder, his words tripping over themselves as if interrupted by the spirit's influence.

"Is he controlling the spirit or is it controlling him?" Heero asked under his breath.

"I don't know," Trowa shook his head, "but they're definitely connected. I don't think we can talk to the spirit. We're more likely to be able to handle Quatre."

"Agreed," Heero nodded. Then he raised his voice. "What do you want, Quatre?"

"It's so clear now! It's never been so clear! I thought we could save the world by taking part in a war, or by supporting good people. But I was _wrong_!" His voice cracked. "Those good people killed my father. And I don't even have to kill them in return. I can do so much more! There's so much more power out there, and I can unleash it. There will _never_ be a war again if I can just bring this power out into the world and make everyone face its truth!"

Quatre's eyes were unbelievably wide, his usually gentle face twisted with fanatical glee. He threw his arms up and leaned back to grin at the sky.

"Don't you see? The only real unity is _death_. The world is filled with madness instead of truth. But I can fix it. I can fix it all!"

"If the world is filled with madness, I will trust myself and keep fighting for what I believe in," Heero warned, "even if it means I must fight you."

"You've got to listen to us, Quatre!" Trowa yelled. "I know you must be hurting, and I'm sorry your father is gone, but you can't do this!"

"Oh Trowa," and Quatre almost smiled at him, "of course I can."

Duo was just beginning to stir, but Wufei was still out cold. Heero and Trowa exchanged a dark look.

"Quatre," Heero spoke evenly, his face masterfully calm. "If you don't stand down, we're going to have to bring you down."

"I won't let you!" he shouted in response. "Now go away! Stay away from me and you won't get hurt!"

"No, Quatre," Trowa replied softly. "You know we can't do that."

The raging spirit trumpeted and charged, its flaming horns lowered ominously. Trowa threw himself to one side while Heero lifted himself via a platform of rock high in the air. They shared the barest of glances even as they evaded – of the four benders, it was hardest for earth and air to work together in a fight like this. Fire and water, even as opposing forces, could still attack together because they were similar in form and in use. Water and earth, earth and fire, even air and water made better allies in a concentrated attack. Especially against something questionably solid. They could really use Wufei and Duo to help.

But they were on their own.

The spirit retreated and curled around Quatre again, his much-smaller form vanishing behind the bulk of the wispy shadow.

"Please don't make us do this," Trowa said, seeing a dark look steal over Heero's face. They might only have a few more moments until the earthbender would make a decision from which there was no going back.

"This world is _sick_!" Quatre returned from within the spirit. "Sick and broken. The spirits and I, we can get rid of _everything_ that's wrong."

But the spirit remained coiled around Quatre's body, and Heero and Trowa used the momentary lull to bring themselves back into position, Heero rebuilding the small stone wall he'd put between the unconscious benders and the nearby threat. His dark eyes narrowed as he watched Duo struggle to open his eyes.

"If you do not stop this, Quatre," Heero called menacingly, "I _will_ destroy you."

The spirit shifted so that its head was passing through Quatre's chest, gazing at them from their friend's stomach. Disturbingly, both their eyes were luminous, and in Quatre's case, almost yellow, the same color as the ethereal flames that ran along the spirit's body. He brought up his fists, clutching them both to his chest just beneath his collar-bone.

"Destroy me? Destroy _me_? No! Everyone _else_ will be betrayed and destroyed! Everyone _else_ will feel pain and know that they are broken and wrong and alone!" With his shouts, the spirit's form seemed to become more and more solid, less misty and more present. "I won't let you stop me, Heero! I won't let you!"

Everything happened at once.

Quatre let out another wordless scream of rage and pain, flinging his arms out wide. The spirit burst through him, gaining strength as it did, its spirit-fire becoming real enough for its heat to scorch the grass.

Heero squared his stance and brought up his hands with a lance of stone, sharpened like a spike and aimed directly for Quatre's heart.

But Trowa was faster. With air like a shield around him, Trowa intercepted them both.

His bending enabled him to knock the stone javelin just off its trajectory, and it embedded itself in the ground only a few handspans from where Quatre stood. But the spirit's rush caught him before he could move away and the impact of his airbending shield and the spirit's fire resulted in a massive blast of dirt and smoke that blinded those who remained standing.

The cloud of smoke and dust concealed from view the impact, but not the sound of Trowa's scream of pain.

Heero stamped a foot on the ground to draw down the particles of earth from the air so he could see. As the dust cleared, he watched Trowa pitch forward, landing awkwardly on his forearms and knees as his legs went out from under him. The spirit had been thrown high into the air and was twisting about among the dusty boulders on a nearby hill.

"Tr…Trowa?" Quatre said, blinking his too-bright eyes and shaking his head oddly as he seemed to peer through the cloudy air. "Trowa, what did you…? Why…?"

"Your kindness, Quatre, is greater than your pain. I know it has to be," Trowa coughed. Then his eyes closed and he slumped limply to the ground.

" _NO! TROWA!_ " At Quatre's cry, the spirit jerked before beginning to flow down the hill to reach him once more.

But Heero threw himself across the short distance that separated them, _not_ looking at Trowa, _not_ looking to see if he was dead, and did the only thing he could do. He knocked Quatre to the ground, and, even as he wrapped his arms around him, pulled them both deep into the earth.

-==OOO==-

It was quiet.

Quatre became aware of the fact that the only thing he could hear, the only thing in his mind at all, was a steadily drumming beat. It was low and slow, and it seemed to surround him.

"Am I dead?" he wondered idly. Then, "No, no, it's father who is dead. And Trowa now, too, I think."

Revulsion and horror and pain gripped him and he would have screamed and thrashed if he had remembered how to move at all. His father was dead! And _he'd_ killed Trowa!

Trowa had died trying to save him from himself.

_What had he done?_

"Open your eyes, Quatre."

Quatre blinked in surprise. As the words came to him, so did other sensations, until he was sure he had a body, and that he was breathing, and that his ears were ringing as if from a blow to the head. He opened his eyes and saw only darkness. But he could feel his face pressed against something, something that was warm. Something that thumped.

He could feel the wetness on his cheeks, his tears, he realized with a start, wetting the cloth in which his face was buried.

He hitched a breath and tried to turn his head.

"I've got you, Quatre."

"Heero," he rasped. He blinked again and managed to look up.

Heero was there. It was Heero's chest he was pressed against, and Heero's heart that was beating in his ears. The earthbender's arms were wound tightly around him, holding him more securely than he had ever been held in his entire life. He couldn't see Heero's face, which was tipped away, but he could feel his breath and Quatre moved with the rising and falling chest. Around him, everywhere that Heero wasn't, was dark, moist, warm earth.

In the next moment, Quatre noticed something else.

"How come I can see?"

"The spirit is here," Heero answered.

Quatre moved a little, and the tiny nest of air surrounded by the deep earth moved with him. And now he could see it, the spirit that was slowly weaving itself around them both in and out of the rock, its snake-like body sliding against them and glowing whenever it touched Quatre. But the spirit was no longer flaming so brightly, and its presence was much more ghostly and less solid. Its undulations were less aggressive, but there was still danger in its posture.

"Quatre," Heero said, getting his attention. The earthbender's head had been bowed but now he raised it so they could see one another in the flickering, eerie yellow light. Quatre couldn't know which way was up or down, and he should have felt afraid at being completely buried alive, closed in the earth, but he wasn't.

"If you cannot stop yourself and this spirit," Heero said, meeting his eyes unflinchingly, "I will close the earth around us in stone. I will keep you here with me until we both suffocate and die. I cannot let you take that power back into the world. Do you understand?"

"I…yes. But Heero, Trowa…"

"I don't know," Heero cut into his words. "I don't know if he's alive. I can't go help him until I know what you will do. Choose, Quatre."

"You'll just…keep me here? Die with me?"

"If that's what it takes. This seems to be the only way to stop you."

"I can't…I don't…" Quatre turned his head from Heero's bright stare and pressed an ear against his chest. He couldn't quite tell if the thumping he heard was only Heero's heartbeat or if it was the heart of the earth itself. Maybe it was both.

"Why did the spirit get so strong?" Heero asked. "And why isn't it strong now? I started to crush you the moment I got you into the earth except the spirit appeared so much weaker. Otherwise you'd be dead now. Tell me why."

"It…it feeds off my emotions," Quatre said softly, feeling shame and hurt come with more tears. "I told you that I'm an empath, and I'm more aware of spirits than a normal person. They're…more aware of me as well. My feelings…when I lose control, they impact the spirit world like Sozin's Comet does firebenders."

"And what are your feelings?" Heero asked, his voice a ghost of a touch more gentle. "Why did you lose control?"

"I…feel alone," Quatre whispered. "There's so much I can't tell you, and all of it hurts. So much has happened and I've made so many mistakes. My father is dead. I couldn't save him and I didn't warn him in time. I died with him, right there in his heart. And now I…I killed Trowa. I don't think I can bear…"

The light surrounding them began to get brighter, the spirit rushing against them a little more feverishly.

"Quatre, stop!" Heero ordered. "If you keep feeding the spirit, I'm going to have to kill you. And I don't want to."

And suddenly Quatre felt a burst of Heero's emotions, the first from outside of the haze of madness and suffering that had consumed him in what felt like an eternity. He'd been alone in his own heart, and that heart had been awash in agony until the whole world had been painted in it. Now, Heero's concern and fear and also loyalty and friendship touched his soul.

Heero cared about him. But Heero cared about the world too, and would kill him, regretting it with his whole heart, if it came to that.

Quatre let out a huff of breath as he felt more tears spill. He tightened his arms where he realized they were curled around Heero's body. Heero's emotions were steady, and the familiarity of sensing the heart of another was a balm to his damaged empathic soul. Quatre took refuge there, and through the peace it brought, began once again to _think_. To _remember_. To realize exactly what he had almost done. What he might have done already.

"Quatre," Heero's voice was warm now, "if what you need to drive this spirit away is to know that you aren't alone, then you should know it. Because I'm here. _You are not alone_. You will never be alone again. You haven't lost everything."

"Heero…" Quatre's chest hitched.

"Your empathy saved my life. Even if I cannot feel your heart in return, I still owe you a debt. The mission needs you. The world needs you. The Gundams need you. And if knowing that you aren't alone will give you the strength to go on, then I'm willing to promise that you will never be alone as long as I live. I would rather give you my life than take yours away myself."

Quatre felt the sincerity of the words, and of all the things Heero could not quite say. He felt the connection, the need, the affection, the concern. He felt the power of the promise, and that Heero meant it not just for the next few moments, but truly for a lifetime as more than comrades or allies, even if he didn't know what it might mean for them or why it was so easy to promise. It had always come easily to the Gundams somehow.

Heero didn't have to fully understand it for Quatre to believe it.

"Okay, Heero," Quatre managed around a throat clogged with emotion, and, at long last, not all of it pain. "Okay."

Quatre closed his eyes and breathed out deeply. And as the air left him, so did a modicum of tension. He reached within himself for the deep core of his spirit that was greater than the world's cares and folded himself into it where it would shield and control him.

The light from the spirit slowly faded away, eventually leaving them in thick darkness.

"Good choice," Heero whispered. "Will it come back?"

"Not any time soon," Quatre said. "I'm still…I'm still not okay, but I can control it now. I won't draw any others like that to me again. I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. It's over."

But Quatre was too close, his empathy too open to not notice Heero's hesitation. He honestly held nothing against Quatre – actually, his feelings seemed to suggest he sympathized with Quatre's loss – but there was concern and guilt there just the same. And rightly so, in Quatre's opinion; in a moment, he would find out if he had murdered someone important to them both.

Heero tightened his grip until Quatre felt like he was being crushed against the earthbender's strong chest. Then Heero began doing…something. Quatre could not have said what, exactly, but he could sense them beginning to move through the earth.

"Whatever happens," Heero said as the darkness around them grew warmer, "whatever we find, you are not alone. Never alone, Quatre."

And they broke through the surface into the sunlight.


	19. The Price of Victory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It means that everything for which I have hoped and feared and prepared is going to come to pass. It means the world stands on the edge of glory or the edge of chaos. We are the struck-down Avatar Yuy ourselves now, caught between power and destiny and destruction and death. Every move, every footstep will matter now. One misstep at the wrong time may carry the world to ruin."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter almost got me strangled by my beta reader. Not because of an unfair cliffhanger this time, but because of a certain character's appearance and actions. I'd apologize, but I wouldn't really mean it, and you wouldn't want that, now, would you?
> 
> Enjoy!

Quatre blinked in the sudden brightness of the world, and the breath he drew felt so different from the tiny amount of air that had been drawn underground by Heero. But it only took him a moment to acclimate to the change before he started forward, aware, so painfully aware, of Duo just beginning to bend over Trowa.

"Don't." Heero's hand on his arm was immovable. Quatre turned and met the blazing gaze. "It isn't that I don't trust you. But wait."

"I will _never_ mistake a lack of bending for weakness again, that is certain," came Wufei's voice. The firebender was leaning on the wall Heero had created to protect him, rubbing his shoulder where blood showed on his tunic from some flying debris. "He's controlled?" he directed the question to Heero.

"Yes."

"Duo," Quatre couldn't help but call out. "Duo, I'm so sorry. Are you okay? And Trowa? Is he…?"

"I don't know how," Duo said, not looking up from where he was crouched over the fallen airbender, "but he's still breathing, more or less. I was kind of awake and I saw the hit. The spirit should have stopped his heart when it charged him like that. I thought it had for a second when I couldn't feel his blood anymore. But he's alive all right. Banged up pretty bad, though."

"I'm so glad," Quatre nearly melted against Heero in relief. "What about you?"

"Takes more than that to shut me down, but I'm not so sure I shouldn't take _you_ down instead," Duo looked over his shoulder at him sharply. "What you did, the people you could have hurt, the people you _did_ hurt and we don't know if they're alive or dead…"

"It was obviously the spirit interacting with his empathy," Wufei said tiredly. "Quatre wasn't actually hurting anyone himself. He didn't even appear to be conscious at the time. The spirit was just using him as a conduit to our world."

"That's not completely true," Quatre admitted, facing them both and shaking his arm away from Heero. "The spirit did cloud my mind so I didn't know everything I was doing, but we were using each other. This is my fault however you want to look at it."

"Can it happen again?" Duo asked, starting to rise from Trowa's side and stepping towards Quatre, radiating aggression and danger.

"Yes."

"No," Heero said over Quatre's agreement.

"Can you really be sure?" Duo demanded. With the speed of a striking snake, he pressed two fingers on his left hand into his right shoulder before quirking the fingers of his right hand. Quatre felt pain seize his chest and he dropped to one knee, his heart screaming as the blood flow constricted horribly.

"Hasn't there been enough fighting between us, Duo?" Wufei pushed himself to his feet.

"There hasn't been nearly _enough_ if he's a risk to us," Duo replied, his voice strangely even and unwavering.

"He can't even fight back!" Wufei protested. "It's dishonorable."

Quatre's vision was swimming and he desperately tried to get enough breath to say something, _anything_ , but his ears were ringing and his chest felt like it was collapsing inward.

"He took us down without even _trying_!" Duo shouted. "He could have _killed_ Trowa! Do we need him so much that we're willing to risk everything on him?" He jerked his hand and Quatre fell to the ground, curling into a ball. "We can't trust _anybody_ anymore. If we can't trust him, we have to end it now and go on without him."

"You don't actually want that," Heero said suddenly into the tension. The earthbender stepped forward until he stood between Quatre and Duo. He lifted his arms and set himself into a defensive posture. "And if you move again, I will break off your hands."

"Why?" Wufei asked – not angrily, just inquisitive, as he approached, holding his wounded arm to his chest. "Why are you protecting him?"

"Because I understand him. And I made him a promise." He stared into Duo's eyes. "Do you know what it's like to die? I nearly did, but Quatre saved me. And Quatre was forced to experience his father's _murder_. Turn your bending on yourself and see what it does to you. Then you'll understand."

"If he didn't let his emotions rule him so, this would not have happened," Wufei put in, but there was a thaw in his usual haughtiness.

"The only way to life a good life is to act on your emotions," Heero returned. "If someone like Quatre loses his heart to this war, then what is the point of winning it?"

"What did you promise him?" Duo asked, looking past Heero to the yellow-haired, keening presence on the ground, snuffling in his labored attempts to breathe.

"Quatre's heart cannot abide suffering alone. None of us should have to, but it's worse for him as an empath. I gave him my word that he would not be alone because I would be there to give him something to hold onto." Then Heero looked piercingly at Duo and asked, "Don't you need the same? Or would you rather kill him than keep a friend?"

"What are the Gundams if we are no longer five?" Wufei found himself asking.

Duo huffed. And then he dropped his eyes and his hands.

Air rushed into Quatre's lungs and he coughed, pushing himself to a sitting position. Heero did not relax his own posture, staring instead at where Duo had turned away to look at the ground.

"You caused great harm," Wufei said to Quatre even as he gave him a hand to pull himself shakily to his feet, "but I know when I lost Meiran I burned down a whole temple, and I'm not an empath." There was almost a quirk of a smile in his face. "If all you need to keep that rage and pain at bay is someone else to hold you steady, I will make you the same promise. Being the only one left is painful enough. And I still owe you a debt as well, so perhaps this is how I may best repay it. Besides, I do not want to kill you, either. We have been abandoned too often already."

"Thank you, Wufei," Quatre said gently. Then he pushed himself forward until he was standing behind Duo. The waterbender turned, his face stricken and his mouth drawn into a tense line.

"Cat, I…"

Quatre leaned forward and rested his head on Duo's shoulder. "I'm sorry I scared you."

There were so many things roiling around in Duo's heart, and most of them didn't make any sense. But with Quatre's words, he understood all at once that his rage didn't only come from the fact that he'd been attacked and defeated. It didn't even only come from Trowa's injuries. It also came from the fear that history was repeating itself before him. That Solo had died once more when Duo should have protected him. That he had been close to a world in which he was again alone. Duo's heart had come away from the spirit filled with the fear, inexplicable as it was, that somehow he had already lost something important, and all he could do was blame the person responsible and take revenge. Even if the person he'd lost and the person responsible were one and the same.

"I should have been there," was all he said.

"You're here now. That's enough." And somehow, it was.

"So, how is he?" Heero asked. Quatre lifted his head and moved to Trowa's side, Duo a step behind.

"Could be a lot worse," Duo reported. "Not even any broken bones, I don't think. We'll have to see what happens when he wakes up."

But Quatre, kneeling beside Trowa, recoiled as if burned when he touched the airbender's body. He bit his lip and his face went white. "Oh, no…"

"What?" Wufei demanded.

"He's…he's lost." Quatre swallowed hard, then looked up. "The spirit didn't hurt his body because it was tearing at his soul." He hung his head. "What have I done?"

"It doesn't matter," Heero said roughly. "Just fix it. You fixed me. Do it again."

"I'm not sure I can," Quatre's hands curled into fists. "But I _will_ try."

"What about Omashu?" Wufei asked. When the others turned to him in surprise, he raised an eyebrow. "Don't look at me like that. I am concerned about Trowa too. But we came here with a duty to protect the innocent people of the city. And the last thing I remember was the pain spirit launching an unstoppable attack against everyone in its way, including us, while a battle raged below. We are not relieved of our duty just because we have become distracted."

"There's nothing left of the Earth Kingdom force outside the walls," Heero reported. "I don't know if they're dead or just knocked out like we were, but when we left there was no one to fight. But you're right. Some of them may wake up and pose a threat once more."

"It could be dangerous to move Trowa," Quatre said softly. "If his soul is lost in the spirit world, his body is its anchor back. Moving the body will make him need to journey to find it."

"That's true," Wufei conceded.

"We'll split up," Heero decided. "Quatre and Duo can stay here with Trowa since they're most able to help him. You and I will head back to Omashu. Between the two of us, we will be able to do much if we are needed."

"Omashu is some distance from here," Quatre said. "You either have a long walk or you have to get Triton to help you."

"Let me try asking him," Duo said. "He likes me. Well, you know...sorta."

The waterbender rose and stepped to the other side of where Trowa was stretched out on the ground. Triton had drawn somewhat closer after the pain spirit had disappeared, but only when Duo reached out a hand did he charge forward, ignoring the offered hand completely and coming to a halt beside Trowa. Quatre did not move from his place, but he looked up into the enormous brown eyes.

"It's my fault, Triton," he said softly. "What happened to Trowa is my fault."

The sky bison seemed to consider this for a moment. Then he sniffed deeply, ruffling the golden hair with the breeze of it. Triton crouched down low and ran his tongue over Trowa's face slowly. After a moment, and to Quatre's complete surprise, he licked at Quatre's face, too, almost comfortingly.

"I don't think he's going to leave Trowa," Duo said a little wryly. The sky bison itself _hmphed_ in agreement and made himself comfortable where he was. Duo shrugged. "Sorry."

"Then we must go without him," Heero said. But he stopped and dropped to one knee beside where Quatre remained crouched. He put a hand on Quatre's shoulder.

Blue-green eyes met dark blue eyes and the pain and sorrow and shame in the former was clear. "Heero…"

"Never alone, Quatre. Remember it," Heero said solidly. "Will you be able to maintain your balance if we go to Omashu?"

"Yes," Quatre affirmed. "I _have_ to. I have to fix this."

"Yes you do," the earthbender nodded. "But not just Trowa."

Quatre swallowed thickly, understanding what Heero did not quite say. "I'll try."

As Heero rose, he pinned Duo with a glare. "Protect them both."

"Oh, come on! What do you think I'm gonna do?" Duo protested.

"What are we if we are not five?" Wufei repeated his earlier question. "Two are vulnerable and in your care."

"I know that! Look, you and Trowa took care of Heero when he was out, and Cat and I watched out for each other. Stop being all paranoid and trust us. You're the ones going off to a city at war. You don't even have a giant flying bison to sit on anything that bugs you."

"It is just…" Wufei trailed off. To his surprise, Duo nodded.

"I know. I had it too. That pain spirit packs a massive punch."

"Indeed."

"Guys," Quatre rose for a moment. He took a deep breath and faced the three of them. "I'm _sorry_ ," and there was desperation in the word, "more sorry than you can ever know. I don't know what the spirit made you see, but I can guess. It brings out the worst suffering and lonesomeness in everybody – that's what it's for. But if I'm not alone," he glanced at Heero, "then none of us are." His hand crept to his chest and he pressed against his heart. "I will be listening for you."

"And on the plus side," Duo managed a smile, "we just beat a really nasty spirit. What's an army of benders after that?"

"Heero beat the spirit," Wufei frowned. "But the point is taken."

But they still paused. No one spoke; it was clear enough – whatever the benders had seen in their visions, and whatever Quatre had experienced, not one of them was eager to abandon the others. Their feelings of loss and grief and hurt were still so fresh.

They might have stood, fighting their own emotions until the sun went down if Triton hadn't decided enough was enough and roared.

"Right," Heero nodded sharply. "Let's go." And he and Wufei turned away and started to walk without glancing back. After a few strides, Heero bent the earth and began moving them forward at a much improved pace, leaving only a cloud of dirt behind them.

"So what now?" Duo asked. Quatre had settled himself again, and now put one hand on Trowa's chest, the other on his own.

"For now, it's up to him."

"Are _you_ okay? Heero said your dad is dead? I'm sorry, OwlCat." Duo sat on the ground next to Quatre and leaned against him supportively.

"Thanks Duo," Quatre leaned back, and he did not hold back the tears that crept out. "I'm not okay, but I'll be a lot better when we get Trowa back and we're all together again."

-==OOO==-

Somewhere, in a darkness or a brightness so intense he could barely make it out, Trowa found himself thinking of mushrooms and wondering if he had gone mad.

-==OOO==-

The full Council of Republic City rose when the main doors opened. Relena had wanted to be on the near side of the vast table to greet their visitors, but Noin and the others had argued against it – while there was a very slim chance of an ambush, keeping their distance would lend just that much more authority to her position, not to mention safety.

"The Kyoshi Warriors!" announced the herald.

Three young women in the full regalia of their legendary island warriors entered, moving with graceful strength as they crossed the floor to stand at the base of the dais. They did not bow, their pride flashing in their eyes, and Relena found herself reacting to that with pride of her own.

"We are the duly designated representatives of Kyoshi Island," spoke the one front and center. "My name is Middie. I come with a signed declaration from the elders of Kyoshi Island."

She turned to the girl to her right, who drew forth a scroll, which Middie unrolled carefully and began to read aloud.

"We, the elders of Kyoshi Island, in accordance with the will of our people, hereby petition United Republic of Nations for membership. We have enclosed trade agreements and mutual protection suggestions. We place our fates in the hands of Relena Peacecraft and the example set by Republic City. We sincerely hope you find our terms agreeable. With strength and honor, we extend a hand of unity."

Relena glanced to the other Council-members. Each had flipped one of their tiles as the proclamation was read, and the decision was unanimous. She moved from where she had remained standing, in spite of the glower Noin shot her from across the room. She made her way around the table and descended from the dais to stop in front of Middie. She held the girl's eyes for a few moments; in her estimation, Middie was a few years her senior, serious and focused. Relena smiled.

"The United Republic of Nations is honored to accept Kyoshi Island as a member. We greet you with open hearts." Relena bowed deeply and held it for a long moment before continuing as she rose. "As one people, we invite you to place a person of your choosing on the Council to ensure your views are heard."

This caught Middie by surprise – while Relena and the Council had decided upon this course of action, it had not been made known publicly. The warrior gathered herself at once and returned the smile with relief.

"We thank you for this extension of trust and fairness. For now, if you will permit me, I will assume the place to speak for my people until they decide on another, permanent representative."

"Then welcome," Relena extended a friendly hand, catching Middie's wrist firmly in her own. "Please allow me to introduce you to the Council."

Relena had begun leading Middie up the steps of the dais when there was a commotion at the door. Everyone moved with sudden speed. Those members of the Council who were benders in their own right leaped to the floor to put themselves between any threat and the rest of the Council. Middie reacted with impressive agility, shoving Relena behind one of the grand pillars to one side and taking up a defensive position next to her, the other two Kyoshi warriors immediately forming up alongside her. Noin pushed to the front of the other benders along with the two guards in the room.

A moment later, the doors burst open. A very large pair of men in the uniforms of the Fire Nation stood at the threshold, arms crossed.

"What is the meaning of this?" Noin demanded, ready for anything.

One of the soldiers reached out of sight and drew the herald, a small man with an overly large nose, forward and practically threw him into the room with a meaty fist. The herald was visibly frightened, and he shrank away from Noin's blazing eyes as he stammered, "An-announcing the Pr-princess Dorothy of the Fire Nation!" Then he bolted for the nearest cover.

Between the two hulking soldiers, the lithe form of Dorothy strode, entering the room as though she owned it. Her hair, strangely pale even for those of the golden-colored locks, flowed around her like a cloak. Her eyes were alight with amusement and her face was poised and calm, one long eyebrow arched appraisingly. She wore what was undoubtedly the latest Fire Nation fashion, and the brocade and silk hugged her form well without being restraining. This was no ceremonial gown, however, but an outfit she could wear to command a war.

"I must admit, I am disappointed," she began casually. "You must forgive my rude entrance, but when I arrived I found quite a long line of _much_ shabbier individuals waiting for an audience. A princess waits for no commoners." Her eyes scanned the room. "Relena Peacecraft, I have come to meet you. You _must_ be better mannered than those filth you embrace. Won't you join us?"

"Don't move, Relena!" Noin barked.

But Relena stepped out from behind the pillar and stood proudly, raising her chin and folding her arms across her chest. The Kyoshi women exchanged uneasy glances and formed a protective perimeter around her.

"Does the Fire Nation come to declare war, Princess Dorothy?" Relena asked, just too coldly to be considered polite.

Dorothy laughed. "Oh, not yet. My grandfather sends his regards, of course. If I carried a declaration of war," her eyes narrowed, "I would have entered with much more flair."

"Then what is the meaning of this intrusion?" Pagan demanded. He was an old earthbending campaigner and stood in a strong position just to Noin's right.

"Even in times of great strife, is there not value in having an enemy close so that you might know their mind?" Dorothy asked easily. "You already have your representative to the Earth Kingdom," she gestured at Noin. "You would not do the Fire Nation the dishonor of refusing to accept a similar emissary to speak for our people in your deliberations."

"The Earth Kingdom is not a part of our deliberations," Relena shook her head. "Noin is merely a means of communication, as well as a trusted friend and protector."

"Oh, very well," Dorothy smiled with smug triumph. "Then it would be _terribly unfair_ to show favoritism only to the Earth Kingdom in that manner. If you wish to preserve the peace, you must treat all nations well. Is that not your way?" Dorothy's smile became snake-like. "I offer myself to stand at your other side, to serve as a 'means of communication' as well as 'a trusted friend and protector.' Would you _dare_ refuse me?"

Relena bit her tongue to keep from speaking any answer that would worsen the situation. She glanced to the others in the room. Middie and Noin's faces were dark with anger and refusal, but Pagan looked resigned. The others of the Council, Relena realized, were certainly not happy with the idea of the Fire Nation's princess so close to them, but they all seemed lost for any way out of it. Dorothy had them trapped in their own diplomacy.

Relena made herself smile and moved through the Kyoshi warriors and the other benders until she faced the Fire Nation princess.

"It is my hope," Relena met Dorothy's clear eyes with her own flashing emotion, "that we may learn from one another, and between us foster a peace that will better help serve the world."

"Oh, it is certainly my hope to _learn_ , Relena Peacecraft," Dorothy bowed. "I am eager to understand what you might teach me of your ways."

Relena felt something very cold and frightened steal into her stomach, a much worse sinking feeling than she'd even had from announcing the United Republic of Nations. If there was war brewing, she could see it right here, in the calculating grin before her. She conceded defeat.

"Welcome to Republic City, Dorothy of the Fire Nation."

-==OOO==-

On a ship in the middle of the ocean, a black hawk flew in the open window to alight on the arm raised for it.

"Which hawk is that, general?" Lady Une asked, looking up from her many maps. "Tallgeese or Epyon?"

"Does it matter?" Treize responded with a small smile. "Both are bound to Zechs and myself."

"It matters," she straightened up, "because it is worth knowing if this is his response to your message or one he sent before receiving yours." She smiled a tiny smile. "Do not blame me for not being able to tell your twin hawks apart."

"Only Zechs and myself can really tell," Treize nodded. "It is one of our little games." He unrolled the message and began to read. "Incidentally, this one is Epyon, so it is his response."

"And what does the Earth Kingdom general suggest?"

Treize was silent for several moments while he absorbed the alarming information his long-time ally had sent. When he spoke, his voice was low. "Lady Une, I have a mission I can entrust only to you."

"Name it, general." She snapped to attention.

"My father has sent Dorothy to Republic City, likely to interfere with Relena Peacecraft and shake up the moves of the independents. I have faith in that girl, and in Noin for that matter, to handle her. But from what Zechs has uncovered, there may be more here than I thought. He sends me this." He passed over the parchment. "I need you to investigate it thoroughly and quietly. Let no one know of your intent."

"Yes sir." Her own eyes widened at the message. "What will you do?"

"I must meet with Zechs in person. There is much he does not say here that I need to know and I trust only from his lips. I will go in secret," he raised his gloved hand to forestall her immediate objection, "but I must go at once."

Treize strode from the room to give the order to change course, returning thereafter. He fell into his own thoughts for a while before Une called him back. "General." When he did not look up after a moment, she tried again. "Treize."

"Yes, my lady?"

Une almost smiled – he always answered her when she spoke his name instead of his title. "Even without whatever Zechs knows, what do you think this means?"

"I think," Treize turned back towards the window and looked out at the waves painted a deep purple by the setting sun, "that we have finally crossed the point of no return."

"And what is that?" Une moved to his side and, in a rare show of affection, wrapped her arms around his waist and drew him close.

"It means that everything for which I have hoped and feared and prepared is going to come to pass. It means the world stands on the edge of glory or the edge of chaos. We are the struck-down Avatar Yuy ourselves now, caught between power and destiny and destruction and death. Every move, every footstep will matter now. One misstep at the wrong time may carry the world to ruin."

Une closed her eyes. Treize reached up to touch her hair gently, stroking the careful plaits with reverence.

"Do you recall that young firebender I battled on the shores near Republic City?"

"Of course."

"When the time comes that I meet him again," Treize spoke more to himself than to her, "I now wonder if we are destined to fight or if we might find ourselves battling for the same cause. And I fear," he let out a long breath, "that these two things are not mutually exclusive."

"That you will have to fight him _and_ he will be fighting for the same thing you are?"

"That I will have to fight him _because_ he will be fighting for the same thing I am," Treize corrected her. "And that is what saddens me the most."

The black hawk let out a little cry and Treize shifted his eyes to it. "Yes, Epyon. I understand."

Treize shifted out of Une's grasp and returned to the messenger bird. He took a coin and put it in the message roll on the bird's back. It would mean nothing to anyone who did not know what that coin signified to the two of them. Then he carried it back to the partly open window.

"Go on, Epyon. Find the Lightning Count and bring this to him."

As the black bird winged out over the darkening sea, Treize looked after it.

"I wonder if Zechs sees the same sorrow in your eyes that I do, Epyon. I wonder if he knows what it means."


	20. Years in the Making

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "The world has reached the point we have discussed so many times. And now, faced with our choice, do we have the courage to make it?"
> 
> "Yes. Even at the cost of everything, yes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry. Got sick this weekend and the thought of having a laptop on my knees made me feel awful. Here's the chapter I owe you!
> 
> Enjoy!

"Hey Cat?"

"Yes?" Quatre looked up from his vigil over Trowa. He had barely moved, but Triton and Duo between them had piled what grasses they could find under the pair to make them more comfortable. Even if Triton did sometimes sneak a few stems for himself. Deathscythe and Heavyarms perched nearby, eyeing the recently-arrived Kai warily. She ignored them with supreme diffidence.

"What did happen to your dad?" Duo looked at him piercingly. "I know you probably don't wanna talk about it, but it has to be part of all this, right?" At Quatre's silence, he urged again, "What happened?"

"My father and I…we had discovered something very unsettling," Quatre's voice was steady even if his eyes were not. "He went up to his eyrie to send a few hawks. There were men waiting for him. It was an ambush." He breathed out shakily. "I sensed them too late. There was nothing I could do."

"Who was it?"

"They looked like Black Lotus to me," Quatre answered. "Same uniform."

"Why would they kill him?"

"It's…really complicated," Quatre shook his head. "It's to do with some secrets of the Order of the White Lotus, secrets my father and I had both been investigating since the Gundams declared their own independence. Or they might have been trying to influence events in Omashu. It doesn't matter." He hung his head.

Duo was about to say something else when Trowa's face suddenly tensed and his eyes started to blink slowly.

"Trowa!" Quatre leaned forward, both hands on Trowa's chest. "Trowa? Can you hear me?"

Duo extended his own senses – Trowa's pulse was strong and even, and its pace was picking up. He could tell the moment before Trowa came to full wakefulness. He reached down to support the airbender as he worked to get to a sitting position, looking around in confusion.

"Trowa?" Duo asked hesitantly.

Trowa turned to him and narrowed his eyes. "Do I know you?"

There was a moment of perfect stillness.

Then Triton _roared_.

Trowa turned to the sky bison, who was only a few handspans from him, and frowned. "I take it I ought to know you at least. But I don't. So don't be so rude." He looked down at his hands.

"Trowa, man, are you saying you don't remember us?" Duo sat back on his heels. The slightly blank look in the green eyes was unsettling. "Do you remember _anything_?"

"Nothing," Trowa shook his head. He glanced around and then at where his cuts had been bandaged. "But you've obviously taken care of me, and I do know sky bison don't make friends easily, so I take it we're allies?" He looked back at Triton. "Are you mine?"

Triton huffed.

"Maybe I'm yours even if you aren't mine," Trowa considered. "I know I'm an airbender," he commented. "I can feel that. But…" he looked at Duo and then to Quatre. "But that's all."

"Your name is Trowa," Quatre said softly, his face turned away but not enough to hide his stricken expression. "I'm Quatre and that's Duo. You're our friend. Something bad happened to you. You were trying to help me and you got hurt. That's why you don't have any memories."

"Don't you be mad at him, though, 'cause it wasn't his fault!" Duo began defensively, but a scowl from Trowa surprised him.

"I'm not mad." He turned to Quatre again. "I can guess you didn't mean it."

"No, I really didn't," Quatre said lowly.

"You really don't remember what happened at all?" Duo was incredulous.

"Nope." Trowa smiled suddenly at the wide-eyed Duo. "But I have a feeling you won't hesitate to tell me any version of the truth you think I need to know." Then the smile faded. "I feel empty and lost inside, but I'm awake and I'm alive, and that's a good start. I've got at least a few allies," he looked at them and Triton again, "and I'm not hurt. The rest will come."

"Boy, you are _way_ more relaxed about this than I would be!" Duo shook his head. Trowa shrugged.

"Here," Quatre rose suddenly and walked to the hawks, returning with Heavyarms. "This is your bird. His name is Heavyarms. You should get to know him."

He threw a significant look to Duo as he transferred the bright messenger hawk to Trowa and moved off a few long paces, the waterbender trailing in his wake.

"So what are we gonna do?" Duo asked, looking back over his shoulder at where Trowa stared idly at Heavyarms. "Is _this_ something you can fix?"

Quatre's expression closed in pain. "No. Not now, anyway. But maybe…"

"Maybe what?" Duo asked eagerly when Quatre didn't go on. "Think out loud, Cattie!"

"Maybe there's someone who can teach me. Maybe I'm finally ready." Quatre's eyes were wide and unfocused towards the western horizon.

"Ready for what?"

"When I was a child, I ran away from home," Quatre spoke distractedly. "Omashu was too big and too full of people and my heart couldn't stand it. I wandered for days on my own until I met someone very wise and kind. He gave me shelter for a while and taught me about my empathy, taught me how to control it so I could cope in a world full of people."

Quatre's eyes finally focused and he looked at Duo with more conviction than the waterbender had seen in him since before they had left Gundam Island. "He always said there would come a time when I would need to seek out a master again and finish my training. I think this is that time. It's certainly never been more needed than right now."

"So all we gotta do is find this old guy and he'll help you help Trowa?" Duo grinned. "Great! That's easy!"

"No, Duo," Quatre shook his head. "I have to go alone. He's kind of a hermit. He won't talk to people. He won't even show himself if I'm not alone. And," he grimaced, "he'd probably say that the journey by myself is as much a part of the training as what he'll teach me."

"Journey where?" Duo looked around. "We're way outside Omashu, and you don't even have any supplies. What are you gonna do, just head off into the desert and hope you find the guy before you die of thirst?"

"Something like that," Quatre nodded. "But remember – I was born here. I know how to survive on my own."

"You don't even have Sandrock!" Duo exclaimed and Quatre winced. "Sorry, buddy, but it's true. And what happened to us staying together? What happened to being five?"

"I'll take Kai. She'll come with me now that…" he trailed off before squaring his shoulders and finishing, "now that my father is gone. And that's why I have to go. We'll never be together again if we don't help Trowa. We'll never really be five if he doesn't get back his memory," Quatre argued. "I can do it, Duo. I promise." He put a hand on his chest. "I'm not alone. You're with me."

"So what do you want me to do with him while you go off by yourself into the wasteland?" Duo huffed angrily.

"Do you know any waterbending healers?" Quatre asked.

"Maybe. I know a waterbender I can trust anyway," Duo shrugged.

"Take him there, then. Triton will help you if you explain why. Maybe waterbending healing can repair this and you won't even need to wait for me. But I have a feeling it's going to take empathy to put back what the spirit took."

"What am I supposed to tell Heero and Wufei?" Duo tried desperately. "Those guys made me promise to look out for you."

"And you are, Duo. Didn't you ever have a master who helped you become more yourself?"

Duo sighed. "Yeah. Guy named Solo. Taught me a lot, about everything. But especially this," he gestured as if he was adjusting his chi.

"Then you understand."

"I hate it, but yeah, I understand."

Quatre smiled and his eyes seemed wet and soft. He put a hand on Duo's shoulder and they both leaned into the contact. "Consider this my penance for scaring you, for making you experience whatever the spirit showed you. I'm not afraid of the desert. And if there's even a chance I'll find a way to fix what I've done to Trowa, I've got to try."

"Two conditions," Duo said, holding up his fingers as he ticked them off. "First, you gotta tell Heero and Wufei _and_ Rashid and the Maganacs what you're doing. No secrets, OwlCat."

"Very well. If you'll let me borrow Deathscythe to do it. Or you can send him yourself if you'd rather."

"Sure. And second," Duo met his eyes fiercely, "you gotta promise this is the last time you throw yourself on your sword, okay?"

"What?" Quatre stepped back with surprise. Duo grinned.

"You heard me. Look, you just went through all kinds of terrible. Your father died, you were connected to him when he did, and he got murdered by our enemies. That would be enough to make anybody a little crazy. Then some demented spirit comes and makes it all worse? Yeah, what you did is bad, I get that, but it's not all on you. It's like, well, bloodbending."

At Quatre's confusion, he grinned wider. It wasn't often he thought faster than the Gundam strategist. "When you get bloodbended by me, you can't really stop me from playing you like a tsungi horn. You go where I want, you do what I want. If you hurt somebody while I'm bloodbending you, yeah, you did that, but so did I. And you might not have if not for me. So, okay, maybe you got carried away, but we were still gonna win that fight in Omashu either way, spirit or no spirit. Yeah, you hurt Trowa and the rest of us, but the spirit did the real damage."

Quatre looked at his feet. Duo grabbed his chin and yanked it upwards.

"You're gonna go on this completely dangerous mission across the desert _by yourself_ to try to find one crazy old guy who _might_ be able to teach you to fix what you've done to Trowa. And if I know you at all, when you get the chance you're gonna go about fixing Omashu too. You want penance, that's it. No more falling on this sword, okay?"

Catching them both by surprise, Duo pulled him into a hug.

"I don't know how, but you made us five. Yeah, you scared us, but we are probably going to scare each other again before this is all over. But if you keep falling on that sword, one day it'll stab you for real and then we won't be five anymore. This is the last round. What did Heero promise you? 'Never alone,' right? I'll promise it too so you can't keep leaving us alone either no matter how bad you feel about it. Got it?"

Quatre squeezed Duo's ribs and nodded against his shoulder. "Got it." Then he broke away. "I need to go now, before it gets any later. Traveling in the dark is always hardest."

"I'll let the others know. Get going then," Duo said stuffily, and quickly turned away to go talk to Triton. Anything to not have to say goodbye – he'd already said more than enough. Quatre smiled, rubbing his chest at the ache he felt there that was not totally his own. He walked to where Trowa sat watching the clouds.

"Trowa?"

The airbender looked at him, tipping his head inquiringly.

"I know nothing makes sense right now. But I have to go and see if I can find a way of helping you. Stay with Duo. You'll be safe. And the next time I see you, I'll try to make things better."

Quatre bowed to him and started to leave when a hand grabbed his elbow. He met blazing green eyes.

"I don't know anything, but my heart tells me I'm better when we're together."

Quatre smiled wetly, unshed tears shining in the setting sunlight. "And when I come back, you'll know why that's true."

Trowa released him and Quatre strode off, careful not to hesitate or look back. If he did, he might never be able to leave.

-==OOO==-

Deathscythe reached Heero and Wufei just as the walls of Omashu came into view. Duo's message was colorful but informative, and Heero crumpled it with frustration.

"Idiot," was all he would say, though, and Wufei concurred silently. But they continued on to Omashu without hesitation – there would be time to sort out the internal problems of the Gundams later.

The outside of the city was a wreck. The remains of the battle were clear, and the repairs had already begun when the two benders approached the gates. There was no sign of the Earth Kingdom forces or the city guards who had joined with them though. Even the platforms they had raised for themselves from which to attack were gone.

"State your business," said an openly-armed soldier, intercepting them before they were even partway across the stone bridge that led to the gate.

"We're allies of the Raberba family," Wufei said, thinking quickly. "We thought we might be needed."

The guard tensed and seemed ready to interrogate them, but a shout from the guard-tower at the gate halted him. He waved them through.

When they reached the gate, it opened to reveal Sada.

"I set off from the island before you all did," he said in lieu of a greeting, "and got here not long ago. I'm well-known here, for I served with Zayeed long before I joined Quatre. I have already informed the family." His eyes held sadness but he did not show it in his face.

Heero and Wufei fell into step beside him as he led the way to a stone carriage. A uniformed earthbender wearing a symbol like the shadow of a bird in flight, one they recognized from the mansion – the Raberba family crest – waited until they had entered before swiftly moving them through the streets and by-ways to the house.

Once the noisy means of transportation had stopped, Sada continued again. "Iria is on her way here, and most of Quatre's other sisters are as well. We will handle Omashu until things settle down. But the family and the business falls to Quatre now. I don't suppose you know when he will come to claim his place?"

"No," Heero answered shortly. Because more seemed to be required, he said, "We need Quatre, too, until the war is over."

"Yes, you do," Sada nodded. "Very well. We will maintain his birthright in his name, then."

"Is the city secure?" Wufei wanted to know. "I see no more Earth Kingdom soldiers."

"No, they're gone." Sada ran a hand through his grey-streaked black hair. "A few did not survive whatever happened to them, and the rest who woke up seemed to lose the will to fight. They retreated, and because I think they took the attack as evidence of some kind of powerful weapon on our part, they will not likely return."

"So Omashu is free," Heero said.

"Omashu is free," Sada confirmed. "The city's leaders would have liked to name Zayeed as their prime administrator, but that won't be possible now. I will nominate Iria to the position, if only to keep them from naming me to it. I believe I will be more help if I continue to serve you."

They entered the mansion and Heero and Wufei looked around at the opulent surroundings. Somehow it was both easy and impossible to imagine Quatre as they knew him growing up here. It echoed the gentle, refined manner of his nature perfectly, but there was none of the strength or blade-sharpness of his intellect here. Sada led them to a small room to one side, a study of some kind. As he moved to the desk and settled some scrolls with familiarity, they realized it must be his own office.

"I take it that Quatre and the other two will not be joining us soon for Gundam business?" he looked at them shrewdly.

They shook their heads. Sada sighed.

"And you won't tell me why or what really happened?" He didn't even wait for them to shake their heads again. "Very well. You have reason not to trust me, and reason to keep your secrets besides. I won't press you for details. But I do need to know what you intend to do next."

Wufei looked thoughtful. "We came to Omashu to protect Quatre's family and help guard against Earth Kingdom imperialism. We failed at both, but in the end the city is now secure if what you say is correct. There is little reason for us to remain."

"We have no further mission," Heero pointed out. "But I do not wish to return to Gundam Island to wait once again. Events will move too fast for us to respond if we are so far away."

"You're right," Sada nodded. "The world is hurtling towards this war. It is merely a question of where and when now." He closed his eyes. "There is one logical course of action, obviously."

"Republic City," Wufei said, also nodding. "If the war does not begin there, and it well might, the city is central enough to be close enough to wherever it does begin."

"And I have new reports that are worrying," Sada said. He handed them a parchment that detailed the presence of Princess Dorothy in the city. "You might be well-served to be nearby. I don't know what the Fire Lord intends, but that Peacecraft is certainly making herself a thorough nuisance to him. And his granddaughter is said to be more than a little reckless at times. Relena Peacecraft may be in danger."

"We'll go," Heero decided. If Wufei was surprised at his vehemence, he hid it well.

"You can carry this, then," Sada reached into his desk again and drew out a broad scroll. "It's the plans Iria and I will submit to the leaders of Omashu to form an alliance with the United Republic of Nations. We won't be joining them directly, but we would like to stand beside them. This will give you the authority to see the Council, and the Peacecraft, without having to compromise your other goals."

"Thank you," Wufei bowed his head. "It will certainly smooth our way."

"You'd better go as quickly as you can," Sada stood. "If I were to guess, I would say we are mere weeks from the final confrontation in which all things will be decided. I will send the Maganacs an order to mobilize their full forces and when you know where you want them, you need only send to me. They will only accept an order from myself or Quatre."

"Understood," Heero rose as well. "And should things here deteriorate…"

"Oh, don't worry so much, young earthbender. I have a few tricks up my sleeves yet. Omashu will still be standing to witness the results of this war."

"I can only hope we are also standing to witness it," Wufei bowed as they left.

-==OOO==-

Treize climbed out of his little boat delicately, careful not to trouble the water more than necessary. Ships and boats that dared to come so close to the Serpent's Pass often found themselves faced with an angered sea serpent. But it had been learned that the monsters for which the path was named tended to be more sensitive to something alive than a mere boat or ship crossing the water. Except in times of battle, the unagi-like creatures would ignore a passing ferry or even a small craft, as long as it moved steadily and without disrupting the water too much. A man putting his hand in the water, though, seemed to summon the serpents quickly enough.

Treize walked the old path with familiarity. It was the first time in many months he had set foot here, but once it had been a common retreat. When his sister had been alive and served as the heir-apparent to the Fire Nation's throne, Treize had supported her by handling many affairs of state abroad. So, of course, he had been carried quite often to the Earth King's doorstep.

Though it was not the Earth King he would meet tonight.

There were a few places in the Serpent's Pass where the steep pathway was more mountain-chain than single ridge of rocks, and while the main path was far above, well away from the water, there was a low smooth place at the water's edge that followed the line of the path in parallel. But it dead-ended in a sheer cliff after only a few strides.

Unless one had an earthbender waiting for them.

When Treize reached the sheer boulder, he rested both hands on it, pushing with some force as he did so. Then he stamped each foot, and waited.

The rocks parted and he slipped inside.

It had taken a few years, but now there was a fair-sized room embedded in the mountain. The whole rock formation of the Serpent's Pass was riddled with hollows and caves from years of collapses and battles and attacks by the sea serpents, so one more was never noticed by those who traveled above. If an earthbender with strong earth-sense had walked the path now, they might have sensed that the chamber was not empty, but Treize knew only trusted men would be guarding the Pass tonight so they could be alone and unknown.

"Good evening, Zechs," Treize said smoothly, bowing in greeting.

The cavern was ringed with torches, all lit and burning merrily. It was otherwise largely empty except for two chairs made by earthbending that faced one another across a table. Zechs rose from one of the chairs and bowed in return.

"It is good to see you, old friend." He smiled a little.

"If I may," Treize said, "allow me to express regret for the loss of Chancellor Darlian. He will be missed."

"Thank you," Zechs nodded. "We have cause to be grateful to him, for it was his last investigation that brought me the information I know you seek."

They moved to the table. Zechs poured wine from a pouch he carried into two goblets he conjured from the stone, thin as glass, and served Treize before taking his own. He also unrolled a sheaf of parchments that quickly spread over most of the table. One scroll he kept in reserve at the end.

"Let us begin at the beginning," Zechs said. "You know well that there was, for a time, a group referred to as the Order of the Black Lotus, and that it was they who were behind the death of Avatar Yuy."

"Yes, of course." Treize nodded. He had been young, but already embedded in the politics of the Fire Nation by then.

"When Chancellor Darlian was assassinated, he was investigating the attack on Ba Sing Se, but not the same way I was," Zechs continued. "I was looking into the perpetrator himself, but Darlian was more interested in a piece of evidence that came his way shortly thereafter. It was this."

Zechs passed across a small piece of metal with a symbol on it. Treize's eyes widened fractionally.

"A piece from an Earth Kingdom Tank, if I am not mistaken on the style of the metal," Treize said.

"Yes. The Earth Kingdom of course maintains some of its war machines of decades past, but none should have been anywhere near the palace in Ba Sing Se the night of those attacks. Yet this was turned up. Darlian gained intelligence that a large stockpile of weapons and equipment like this had been created and hidden in the heart of the city, right under the Earth King's nose, as it were."

Zechs drew out one of the parchments. "My own discreet investigations proved that he was correct. Deep beneath the Old City, there had been a massive collection of weaponry, all recently destroyed. There was no way to tell who had made it or brought it there, but it could only come from someone with great power and influence, access to the palace, and a very strong group of earthbenders at their disposal."

"And you suspect the Order of the Black Lotus is not as dormant as we believed," Treize concluded.

"I can prove it," Zechs returned. "And I can also prove that the Order of the Black Lotus is the primary force behind most of the recent violent uprisings and attacks on our sovereign lands, including some in the Fire Nation. Noin uncovered evidence that the school that was destroyed in the coordinated attack was also a repository for many plans and diagrams of similar weapons, plans without which reproducing them quickly will be much more difficult."

"Worrying indeed," Treize nodded, taking a sip of wine. He kept his tone neutral – he had gained that same intelligence himself not long after the attack but had chosen not to share it with Zechs. "But this much you could have communicated to me with the hawks."

"I have reason to believe that even bonded messenger hawks like Epyon and Tallgeese are not immune to the influence of the Black Lotus," Zechs returned. "I sent a coded message to Noin about these findings, but the response I had from her was not correctly coded in return. A messenger dispatched directly confirmed that Noin had received my hawk and returned it, but that her reply was not what I received. The hawks are not perfect."

"It is true that even those trained like Epyon and Tallgeese can be confused. They will fight to protect their messages, but someone familiar and known to them could call them out of the sky while they were carrying something and change the parchment and the hawk would not resist." Treize frowned darkly.

"But that is not why I asked you here," Zechs said. "It is this that worries me."

He opened the last scroll. "This is a message I intercepted. It makes explicit not only the involvement of the Black Lotus in many recent events, but their connections to the very crowns of the nations."

Treize frowned darkly. "Can you be certain of this message's validity? Could it not have been _intended_ for you to intercept?"

"That is also plausible," Zechs acknowledged, "and we cannot rule it out. But," he raised his chin defiantly, "you know as well as I do that the Fire Lord would well benefit from this war, and from the power it could give him. You know as well as I do that he is not above corruption himself."

"I do know that, yes," Treize said. "But this…this is the treason of The Fire Lord's War almost two-hundred years ago. This is the same madness, the same desire for conquest and dominion. If this is true, Fire Lord Dermail is as villainous as our ancestors."

"I know," Zechs said, and there was something gentle in it. "And it is a possibility that cannot be overlooked. If the forces of the Black Lotus are trying to start a war, with the Fire Lord's support, and with the support of someone powerful within the Earth Kingdom, we must be very wary."

"I am suddenly gratified for the presence of Relena Peacecraft in Republic City," Treize said. "She is undoubtedly her father's daughter, and a pretender to that seat would be disastrous at this sensitive moment."

"I agree." Zechs sipped his wine and then spoke. "I believe, old friend, that the time has come at last."

"It has," Treize nodded, sitting back. "Whether these allegations about my father are true or not, the world has reached the point we have discussed so many times. And now, faced with our choice, do we have the courage to make it?"

"Yes," Zechs said solidly. "Even at the cost of everything, yes."

Treize allowed himself a genuine smile he only ever shared with Une and this man before him.

"Good." He rose.

Zechs rose also and the two faced one another in silence. Then, at almost the same moment, they bowed. But not the bow they normally gave one another, or even the more formal version they performed when there were witnesses other than Une or Noin. Both dropped to their knees and bowed until their hands were flat on the ground and their foreheads touched the earth. They held this pose for a long stillness.

When they rose, Zechs reached out a hand and Treize took it tightly.

"Until the end, then," the earthbender said with so many warring emotions in his voice not one could be identified.

"Until the end and after," Treize replied.

It was the only goodbye they could offer for now.


	21. The Written Design

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "How can peace ever be foolish?" Relena asked sharply.
> 
> "People cannot abide peace," Dorothy shrugged. "Here we are, less than two hundred years from a war that lasted half that long, and preparing to make war again. Peace is a beautiful ideal, but utterly impractical. People long to fight and kill and die. We're savages at heart, Relena. Surely you know that firsthand."
> 
> "If the people of this world are savage and long for war," Relena met Dorothy's eyes blazingly, "then I will forever stand to offer them another option. I choose to believe that there are more people like me in the world than there are like you describe. I choose to believe that peace can save what war would destroy."
> 
> "And that is why you will fail. You are too sympathetic to those who do not deserve it, Relena," Dorothy smirked again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning guys – the next 2 or 3 weekends for me are genuinely insane, including a 4-day visit with parents in my house, 3 concerts, 5 extra rehearsals, and the list goes on. We're also getting to a critical part of the story. So I'm going to promise to try to keep the weekend updates going. If I miss one, I'll make up for it with two. Okay? Don't be shy to send me a note or something if I forget. I'm always on email no matter how much running around I'm doing. Plus, the encouragement might keep me sane.
> 
> Also, make sure, those of you who won a oneshot request that you're thinking about what you'd like! After this story is totally posted, I'm going to switch the schedule and start putting oneshots up during the week and the chapters of my next work up on the weekends, so I'll want to be writing them for you soon! I hope you already have ideas.
> 
> Enjoy!

Relena opened a door and gestured. "This will be your room if you are amenable, Princess Dorothy."

"No need to continue referring to me as 'princess,' Relena," Dorothy replied. "We are equal in rank, are we not?"

Relena bit her tongue, which she seemed to be doing a lot around Dorothy, before settling on an answer. "We may be equals in _function_ , but we do not recognize rank as such on the Council of Republic City or the United Republic. I am just a citizen like any other."

"Well, if I call you Relena and you call me Dorothy and we dispense of the titles entirely, that will be more equitable," Dorothy said. "And yes, this room is fine. I assume that yours is down the hall?"

"Yes," Relena affirmed. "You will be as near to me as Noin, as you requested."

"As is _fair_ ," Dorothy returned.

For what seemed like the thousandth time in the same afternoon, Noin was filled with gratitude that Dorothy was not an earthbender. Any earthbender with strong earth-sense would have felt the tension in Noin, the way she practically dug her feet into the floor to keep her from stepping out of line. Dorothy was insisting on being treated exactly like Noin, including always accompanying Relena, being introduced to the guards as her protector, and having say over Relena's movements and plans "for security purposes." Already Noin had excused herself from two confidential Council discussions just to keep Dorothy out.

But she could not keep Dorothy from Relena's side at home. And so they were helping Dorothy become comfortable and arranging for her own men from the Fire Nation to stay nearby.

Noin had not relaxed even a fraction from the moment Dorothy had stormed her way into the meeting in the Council's chamber, and she would not relax until the Fire Nation princess was anywhere but here. But then, she of course realized, Dorothy would likely be the vanguard of any offensive launched by the Fire Nation, so as long as she was in Republic City, she would not be leading her grandfather's army to war elsewhere.

Unless of course the war came to Republic City first.

"It is time for the evening meal," Relena was saying as Noin followed behind the two girls. "Will you be joining us?"

"Yes of course," Dorothy tipped her head. "We have much more getting to know one another to accomplish."

"That," Noin spoke up, "is not in the purview of my function here on behalf of the Earth Kingdom." Thank goodness that much was true – the friendship she shared with Relena had more to do with the fact of Relena's brother anyway, and Noin would die before revealing _that_ to Dorothy.

"Perhaps," Dorothy replied, smirking in Noin's direction, "but this is a rare opportunity and I would not wish to waste it. I think of you as the heroine of our times, Relena. I myself feel a great admiration toward you."

"Do you?" Relena asked carefully.

"Oh yes! Your ideas are completely wrong, of course, in every particular, but your conviction is compelling."

"What _do_ they teach in schools in the Fire Nation?" Relena frowned as they entered the dining room. "Is it really so awful to believe in peace and unity?"

"Awful? No, of course not," Dorothy sat delicately on the elegant mat to the right of Relena's place at the table. "Just foolish."

"How can peace ever be foolish?" Relena asked sharply.

"People cannot abide peace," Dorothy shrugged. "Here we are, less than two hundred years from a war that lasted half that long, and preparing to make war again. Peace is a beautiful ideal, but utterly impractical. People long to fight and kill and die. We're savages at heart, Relena. Surely you know that firsthand."

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean," she returned tightly. She dared not glance to Noin, not for anything.

"Why I obviously refer to the death of your family, and the attack here in Republic City," Dorothy cooed. "Surely you recognize that no well-mannered, enlightened people such as you imagine make up the world could have done these things?"

"If the people of this world are savage and long for war," Relena met Dorothy's eyes blazingly, "then I will forever stand to offer them another option. I choose to believe that there are more people like me in the world than there are like you describe. I choose to believe that peace can save what war would destroy."

"And that is why you will fail. You are too sympathetic to those who do not deserve it, Relena," Dorothy smirked again, turning to the cup of wine before her.

Noin took a deep breath and let it out very slowly.

This was going to be a long, _long_ meal.

-==OOO==-

"So, uh, Triton, buddy, where are we going?"

Duo and Trowa were both perched on the sky bison's head, with Trowa ostensibly steering, but in reality it appeared that any request to go a particular direction was being utterly ignored.

Triton rumbled low in his chest.

"I'd ask if you knew what he was up to, but I bet you don't know that either, huh?" Duo asked.

"Nope. Sorry." Trowa shook his head, a faint smile pulling at the corners of his lips.

"Well, we're going kind of south-east. Any idea what's that way he might want to see so much?"

Trowa just gave him a disdainful look and Duo coughed awkwardly.

"Right. Never mind."

They continued in silence, with Duo only occasionally attempting to get Triton to go in a particular direction before he gave up and just let himself go with the flow. Even Duo knew better than to try to mess with a determined sky bison while flying. Unless you liked long drops into the ocean.

It did give him a little more time to consider Trowa, however. Though he had not known the airbender particularly long or well, Duo prided himself on his ability to read people. And what he was seeing in a memory-less Trowa was somewhat different from the previous person he had known. Trowa was still reserved, calm, and methodical, more inclined to listen than to speak, and difficult to rattle. But this Trowa was also very, very detached, more like the Air Nomads of his legacy than he had ever been before. In fact, Duo thought the old Trowa positively _enjoyed_ turning the ideals of the Nomads on their heads, but this Trowa seemed to have settled into those patterns with ease. On the other hand, Duo suspected having no memory went very well with the concept of complete liberation from the cares of the world. Either way, it was an odd shift, and Duo wondered what it might mean for the airbender if and when his memories were restored.

Near sunset, they crossed into a part of the south that Duo knew pretty well, having spent a fair amount of time hanging around Whaletail Island and the nearby island that housed Ice Haven. He figured out where Triton was probably going just as the correct mountain came into view.

"Triton, buddy, is this your way of trying to help Trowa remember something?" he asked. Triton gave a gruff huff in answer.

"I'm pretty sure that means yes," Trowa offered.

"Okay, I get that. Wish I knew why he thought you'd remember being on Appa Island, though."

Triton huffed again and began to descend. Appa Island was less a proper island and more a mountaintop that rose straight out of the sea, towering high into the air. It had no beach on which to land any kind of boat, and the treacherous waters surrounding it made it impractical to sail there anyway. It had long been avoided by general agreement of sailors and, later, when it was named, everybody else.

Because Appa Island was one of the rare sky bison breeding grounds.

On a ledge up high, Triton landed and gave a sort of barking call. Dozens of other sky bison, including the little ones, began to emerge from the clouds and crags in the area, converging on the broad cliff. Trowa and Duo slid from Triton's head, and Duo stepped back, waiting.

Several of the larger, and therefore older, sky bison came forward, licking at Trowa happily. He moved among them, his eyes wide and unfocused, running his fingers through their soft fur or stroking their broad noses as they greeted him.

"Trowa was here a long time ago, wasn't he?" Duo asked, noticing how none of the baby flying bison seemed as familiar with Trowa as those many years older.

Triton huffed.

"Is this where he grew up? Is that how you know him?"

This time, the huff was less affirmative and Duo couldn't interpret it. He shrugged. "Well, is there any place he might remember in particular?"

Triton gestured with his nose to a nearby cave, far too small for any but the youngest bison to enter. Duo made his way over. In the slanting light of the sunset, he could make out carvings on the cave's walls. In fact, the entire interior was inscribed with drawings and images, most of them of sky bison in flight, and of a figure riding them, and of both bison and the same figure airbending.

"Hey Trowa!" he called. Trowa wandered over, a few of the sky bison trailing him with obvious upset in their eyes.

"Look familiar?"

Trowa moved his hands over the walls and the images there with the same delicacy he had shown the bison a moment before. He closed his eyes. "Maybe. It doesn't _look_ familiar, but it _feels_ familiar, if that makes any sense."

"Not really, but I believe you," Duo answered. He looked to where Heavyarms and Deathscythe had taken up a perch beside Triton and were both preening. The birds were entirely casual about the whole place. "If I had anything to bet, I'd bet you were here way before you got caught up in the Order and everything. And from these," he pointed to the pictures, "I think it's where you learned airbending."

An idea struck Duo and he practically hauled Trowa out of the cave.

"Go on, then. Airbend with your friends," he waved at the wild sky bison. "I bet your body remembers that."

Trowa had no real reason to resist, so he closed his eyes and started to breathe. He could feel five or six of the sky bison, including Triton, settle around him, breathing with him.

After one hundred breaths, they moved into the sky as one.

Duo, on the mountain, watched in awe as Trowa, his eyes closed the whole time, moved through the air with a combination of airbending and acrobatics that put any airbending master with a glider to pure shame. The bison sometimes held him up with their own bending, but more often they dodged and twisted through his own gusts of air, dancing in patterns and formations that were unlike any bending form Duo had ever seen before. It was ease and grace and freedom in motion, strength and oneness with the wind itself.

They remained a part of the sky until well after night had fallen.

When Trowa at last lowered himself back to the mountain, the sky bison all settling around him in a circle and each licking him in turn, he was smiling.

-==OOO==-

A man whose face was hidden in shadow looked at the two young officers before him.

"You did the right thing reporting this. You know what to do now?"

"Yes sir!" they snapped a salute.

"Then get to it."

-==OOO==-

Lady Une dropped the last guard from the strangling hold she'd put him in, a delicate sneer crossing her features at the pitiful skills of these so-called soldiers. They wouldn't have been allowed to clean the latrines on the lowest Fire Navy ship. But then, they were not regular soldiers at all, it appeared. Their black clothing was mismatched and their styles from completely different schools of techniques.

Une had infiltrated the location at the request of General Treize, and had discovered almost at once that it was a nest of activity obviously somewhat central to the Order of the Black Lotus. She had known she would be facing the Black Lotus, but not that the hidden base indicated by Treize was so significant or she might have considered bringing a few of her own trusted men along.

But on the other hand, she would not have been able to tell them why the Fire Nation prince had sent them here, and their questions would have been annoying at best and dangerous at worst.

Une opened the door and let herself into what she had identified as the central room in the complex. It was empty, of course – with such lax security, she assumed virtually all the major authority figures must be elsewhere. No commander of a worldwide conspiracy shrouded in mystery would allow their soldiers to be so wretched if they were present to witness it.

The room was a trove of knowledge, with scrolls and parchments and maps and bound books lying everywhere. Une took a deep breath. She had a lot of time before dawn, assuming anyone would even check the rotations all the way down here by then, and she had to get to work.

-==OOO==-

Treize's light boat had caught the wind and was making excellent progress back towards where his Fire Nation Navy vessel waited when only a lifetime of observation and instincts saved him from the initial attack.

A bolt of lightning came out of nowhere in the dark night. Treize managed to get himself mostly out of the way, but he couldn't save his boat from the strike. Wood and metal splintered and screamed at the impact.

Treize peered through the darkness for his enemies. At last a boat became visible off to the port side. He held his flames in check, however – this could just as easily be an Earth Kingdom patrol, and starting a fight with Zechs's people would be difficult to explain and complicated to resolve, and he had time for neither. Treize waited in the silence.

Until another bolt of lightning, illuminating the vessel for that instant of burning brightness in the dark, hit the side of Treize's boat again. Worryingly, it _was_ an Earth Kingdom patrol. Except that no Earth Kingdom army force would have a firebender with them.

"Surrender!" came the shout over the water, and perhaps the echo was distorted but Treize felt certain he knew that voice. "Surrender or we will leave you to the serpents!"

Really, it wasn't the most difficult decision Treize had ever made. Another bolt of lightning would likely bring a serpent if one wasn't already on its way, and Treize did not relish the idea of fighting off an entire force while trying not to fall into the water. He could swim, but that would hardly prevent him from becoming a late-night snack.

He smirked indulgently. A very neat ambush indeed.

Treize held his arms up and called back. "I am rightly defeated. I will not resist. You have my word of honor, assuming you don't toss me to the serpent anyway."

A light flared on the mid-sized ship before him, and he waited to be examined. Then the order came across. "Take him and get him below. We've got to get out of here before first light."

Treize _definitely_ knew that voice. He waited patiently as the ship came close. Manacles on the ends of chains flew from the deck and snared his wrists. Treize raised an aristocratic eyebrow – such devices were rarely seen outside of Ba Sing Se, and only ever used by skilled earthbenders and metalbenders. So not only firebenders on board the ship that had come for him – interesting. He allowed himself to be drawn upwards like a caught fish, his dignity refusing to be cowed by the rough handling.

Once on the deck, he permitted his hands to be bound behind him with the chains. The ship's single lantern lit its crew, revealing mostly men and women in black, but two faces were familiar.

"Alex and Muller, isn't it?" he asked conversationally. "You are among General Zechs's most trusted soldiers. I am surprised to find you here."

"So are we, Prince Treize," Alex replied. "Especially with _them_ ," he looked venomously at a particular group of the black-clad individuals, "but some things are bigger than rivalries."

"I quite agree." If the men Alex was glaring at were not firebenders, Treize would eat his manacles whole. Very interesting indeed.

Treize remained placid and unresisting even as he was led below to a small metal room, where he was left. And some indeterminate amount of time later, when he was hustled off the ship and into some tunnels on the beach, he simply went where he was directed without even the appearance of defiance. He knew well how much more he could learn by being the pliant prisoner of these people than in being their enemy.

Besides, Treize was not particularly concerned. If his own ship and crew didn't tear the world apart to find him – which they would attempt to do, of course, and probably fail – he felt utterly confident that Lady Une would incinerate the sun herself before she would abandon him.

-==OOO==-

It was only years of training and discipline that kept Lady Une from burning the _entire room_ to ashes.

She located a satchel of some size and began methodically cramming every useful text and document into it, loading it up as though it were her only supplies for a trip alone over the ocean for a month. She rolled scrolls so tightly she could have used them as blunt weapons, and any books that had only a few helpful pages she mercilessly ripped apart and took only the necessary bits.

When she had double- and triple-checked to ensure she had absolutely everything of strategic value, Une smiled darkly and gave in to her furious impulse. In moments, the room was aflame.

She sneaked out of the stronghold – if it was worthy to be called that, and in her opinion it was not – with no one the wiser. She raced back to her own ship, calling out orders to put to sea at once. Then she shut herself in her room and swore to flay alive any crew member who dared enter without her permission. It wasn't common for her to be so cruel with her crew, so they obeyed and did not question it.

Lady Une was grateful for their alarm – had any disobeyed her, she might have had to kill them for fear they were numbered amongst the many traitors she now knew surrounded the very world.

Over the course of a sleepless morning, Lady Une carefully assembled all the evidence and information she had collected and put it together in order. Then she wrote a summary, keeping it as brief as possible given the sheer amount of facts to cover, which she bound on top of the stack.

> "There is a clear conspiracy that spans the entire world and virtually all nations, intent upon nothing less than a world-wide conflict that will crack any hope for peace asunder for many generations. It began with the murder of Avatar Yuy by the Order of the Black Lotus and continues to this day. It is many-pronged and well-supported on all sides, not only by many benders and warriors from diverse backgrounds, but also from within the highest seats of power.
> 
> "The Order of the Black Lotus has followers close to the Earth King as well as the Fire Lord, and there is some evidence that suggests Fire Lord Dermail himself may be a Black Lotus Grand Master. These powers have brought the world to the brink of war deliberately, some for personal gain and glory, others for a twisted ideology. The thrust of their most common theme appears to be fear and loathing of peoples other than themselves. The Black Lotus is committed to ensuring that the world fractures into nations divided along the lines of bending and heritage, and that places such as Republic City where these are blended be conquered or eradicated.
> 
> "The Black Lotus has engaged in efforts around the world, in the smallest hamlets and the greatest cities, not only to recruit those of like thinking, but to instill fear and mistrust in the population. Certainly there is evidence that the Earth Kingdom's ill-advised actions against firebenders have their roots in this very philosophy, cutting out those of Fire Nation heritage from the fabric of society and treating them like criminals based solely upon their birthright. The latest communications between this group suggest that they are converging now for a final confrontation, but that they leave behind them a public opinion inclined to trust only to those who have the same powers and histories as themselves. To defeat them, not only must their forces be utterly repressed, but their message must be renounced by the people.
> 
> "The Black Lotus have seen to murders and corruption to ensure their pieces are in place for this final confrontation, including eliminating members of the Order of the White Lotus who might have helped guide the world peacefully. They also have hidden and very-well entrenched presences in places like Republic City, unknown to any, it seems, and poised to take command of the entire Black Lotus force from there when the war begins in earnest. Their agent and Grand Master in Republic City is named Quinze, who was once a famous friend and ally of Avatar Yuy himself. Why he has allied himself with the very people who killed the Avatar is unknown at this time, but if the rumors about him are true, he poses a very real threat to Republic City just in himself.
> 
> "Most disturbingly, the Order of the Black Lotus seems more than willing to embark upon any course of action, no matter how radical or harmful, for the opportunity to rend the world into pieces. If not for a few interrupted schemes including setbacks in Ice Haven and Folly's Fortress – both of which they blame on interference by the Order of the White Lotus – grand, lethal attacks would have been staged across both the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation to goad both into war with one another as well as Republic City. The peoples seeking independence from the Old Four merely serve as a backdrop against which the Black Lotus intends to rewrite the course of history.
> 
> "Recent evidence suggests that information has been provided to the Order of the White Lotus that General Treize is the single Grand Master of the Black Lotus. They assume the Order of the White Lotus will act against General Treize in an attempt to stop him from initiating a war, but such an act will only incite the Fire Nation to violence sooner.
> 
> "In conclusion, I find that the Order of the Black Lotus has already committed crimes expressly forbidden by every nation and charter in the world, including the murder of Avatar Yuy. Whatever our particular disagreements with peoples across the world, it is clear that the only true enemy is the Order of the Black Lotus and the dark seeds they have planted in the hearts of the people. To prevent destruction on a level not seen since the pass of Sozin's Comet nearly three-hundred years ago, we must pull together all peoples and nations to combat this darkness if we wish to have any chance of achieving peace and prosperity."

Une blew on the ink on the last line to speed its drying, wondering if Treize would chide her for her sentimentality, and deciding she didn't care. That message was too important to be lost in the coldness of the military communication regulations.

Finally satisfied that she had prepared all adequately, she left her cabin and strode to the foredeck to determine if her suspicions were correct. As she feared, a black hawk awaited her. When she came near, it trilled anxiously.

Treize and Zechs had each trained their hawks to retreat to Une and Noin respectively if ever the hawk was unable to locate its master. If Epyon were here, and she believed it was Epyon for all she could tell, then the Order of the White Lotus had already taken the bait and seized Treize in an attempt to forestall a war.

Which would, of course, be the perfect opening for Fire Lord Dermail to begin one.

"Captain!" she shouted, turning on a heel even as she drew Epyon to her shoulder. "Set a course for the Earth Kingdom. We must take swift action before the Fire Nation ignites a chain of events we will not be able to correct."

But even as she gave the order, she feared it was already too late.

-==OOO==-

Quatre reached the rock on which he had spent so much time as a child, finding it without error after only a couple of days of walking. He was exhausted, ravenous, and still thoroughly heart-sick, but the sight of the vast ocean comforted him.

"Duo kept saying desert," he commented to Kai as she settled on a scrubby tree nearby, "and I didn't correct him, but I'm glad he was wrong. This would be a lot worse in a desert."

Kai ruffled her feathers at him and Quatre felt an odd sense of reproach from her.

"I didn't _exactly_ lie," he shook his head at her. "Compared to everything else I've told them or avoided telling them, this was pretty mild." She snapped her beak at him and he sighed. "I know. Believe me, I know."

He looked over the shoreline in each direction. This area was craggy and difficult to navigate, both for ships from the sea and for anything on the land. He really had no idea how anything could live in such a barren, unstable, dangerous landscape.

"Perfect for me," he muttered with a heavy heart. Then he drew himself up and sat down facing the west. He folded his legs into a meditative pose and closed his eyes. What he wanted was to sleep, but if he slept he would learn nothing.

Quatre did not know how much time passed while he waited, meditating and practicing what skills he possessed as he had been taught. It could have been only a few moments or it could have been days. He barely moved and did not open his eyes. When a curious scorpion-lizard got too close, Kai fended it off and ate it. Quatre never acknowledged the interaction, if he was even aware of it.

An eternity of silence and stillness later, Quatre's heart was touched by a heart he remembered well. He opened his eyes to the familiar weathered face that was smiling gently at him.

"Greetings, master," he said, bowing low from the seated position, and felt tears of relief prickle in his eyes. After everything that had happened, he was not sure he would still be worthy of the help he so desperately wanted. But the piercing brown eyes would not regard him so fondly if his master had decided to abandon him.

"Hello Quatre. I see that it is time to complete your training."

"Yes sir."

"Then let us begin."


	22. Devils All Around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "What's happened?"
> 
> "The Fire Nation has declared war against the Earth Kingdom and Republic City!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I'm so sorry I didn't get these up in time! To compensate, I'm putting 3 chapters up at once. On the plus side, my concert went great!
> 
> I'm sure I have some kind of snarky commentary for these chapters, but I can't think of it now.
> 
> Enjoy!

The trouble with war, Duo had decided, besides all the killing and damage and scarring, obviously, was the _waiting_. Long, indeterminate periods of time from afternoons to days to weeks of nothing at all, and then suddenly a dozen heartbeats of terror and exhilaration and death. Its weirdly unreliable pace was something he found at once amusing and annoying, depending on how far into one of the boring periods he was.

This was definitely the boring period. A really deep, long boring period of waiting. And the worst part was that Duo wasn't even sure what he was waiting _for_ , just that he knew in his bones that he needed to wait. Ugh.

It had been nine days since the fight at Omashu. Duo had not really been idle, though his options on the remote mountaintop were limited. He'd spent most of each day down near where the water crashed into the base of Appa Island. With no beach, he could not stand in the surf as he had at Gundam Island, but he found that the more violent nature of the sea in this area had different lessons to teach him. Now and again, Trowa joined him, but for the most part Duo was alone with his element. On the sixth day, he had gained the control and strength to waterbend his way back up the mountainside, all the way to the cliff with Trowa's cave. It was the most water Duo had ever bended in his life at one time, and when he made the wave rise to him, he felt endless and boundless as the sea itself, as though he had been empty without ever knowing it and now could never be filled enough with it. He tried to explain it to Trowa, who smiled and said nothing.

But Trowa spent his days doing even less than Duo. He played with the sky bison and he airbended, but really, Duo had no idea what he did while Duo was waterbending. Trowa could have been composing symphonies for all he talked about it. But then, Duo tended to talk more than enough for the both of them. And they both talked to the sky bison, but other than Triton, Duo couldn't tell one grunt from another when he tried.

Conversely, Deathscythe and Heavyarms had probably never been so busy in their lives. The pair of hawks went out and back several times. Duo started sending them to Sada when he figured out that Omashu was an easy place for the birds to reach without being gone too long. That was how they learned about the result of the fight at Omashu, and Heero's and Wufei's decision to go on to Republic City. They followed the events as they unfolded, learning about Princess Dorothy at Relena Peacecraft's side – and wasn't _that_ a fun fact? – and then the surprising disappearance of Prince Treize while somewhere in or near the Earth Kingdom. But while they got periodic updates, consisting mainly of "we're still alive" from Heero and Wufei, there was no word at all from Quatre.

On the tenth day on Appa Island, Deathscythe returned with a message from Sada that finally gave Duo something to do. He'd asked the man to help locate the only waterbender Duo knew that he could really stand, and Sada had come through at last. So he sent Deathscythe winging away to give warning (surprising this particular waterbender often ended with a face full of cold water) and then he explained very carefully to Triton that while hanging around with all the sky bison had been fun, Trowa remembered nothing new and he had a better idea. It took part of a morning, but at last Triton agreed to be led back out into the world.

"So who is this waterbender?" Trowa asked as they started heading west. "Not your teacher, obviously."

"Nope," Duo answered. "Just somebody I met a while back. She trained under a really good healer, and she's not too shabby at combat, either. She's part of the Mid-Water Tribe fighting force."

"Is she important?" Trowa wanted to know. "Somebody we could get to help us in the war?"

" _She's_ not all that important," Duo shook his head, "but her older sister is."

They landed at Ice Haven before dinnertime, thanks to Triton's very speedy flying, and Duo directed them to a nondescript house inscribed with penguin-seals at the very edge of the city. He had just jumped down from Triton's head after Trowa when the door burst open.

"Duo!" a girl with short hair so black it was almost blue and ocean-blue eyes bolted across the grass. She grabbed Duo in a hug, then promptly swatted his head.

"OW!" he whined, pulling away and rubbing where she'd struck. "Come on, Hilde! What was that for?"

"You _said_ you would keep me in the loop with things," she glared at him. "You _said_ you would let me help you. And now I find out you were in Ice Haven and you didn't even come to see me!"

"I said I would _try_ , and it wasn't my fault you weren't home when I came by! And I _am_ letting you help me now. How did you know I was here anyway?" Duo asked.

"Because I'm not an idiot?" she tossed her head. "Name one waterbender in the whole world who can bloodbend half a contingent of the army like that. Who wouldn't kill any of the people he was bending against. And who took a bunch of soldiers out not with bending but with chi-blocking." She scowled. "I know your style too well, Duo."

"We met a long time ago," he explained to Trowa.

"He tried to steal my sister's boat," Hilde grinned. "I caught him."

"Hey, I got the boat in the end!"

"Because I _let_ you!"

Sensing this was an argument that could go on for a while, Trowa smiled indulgently and moved around them into the house to give them some time to catch up. The interior of the house was warm and comfortable, with water and fish and whales and all manner of sea creatures inscribed in the very walls of the bright main room. Something cooking on the fire smelled wonderful.

From behind a hanging curtain, someone else stepped into the room as well. Trowa found himself looking at even bluer, even mistier eyes than Hilde's. He wondered if he'd ever seen such eyes before and felt as though he had. Somehow that feeling made him sad, and he wished he knew why.

"You must be the one with the damaged memories," the woman who had entered said gently. "I hope you don't mind that Hilde told me about it – she's a good healer, but she's never tried to heal a mind before."

"And you have?" Trowa asked.

"Yes. When you travel as much as I do, you see many different people with many different pains."

"I'm Trowa," he said, offering a bow. "I would ask if you have met me before in your journeys, but I imagine you would already recognize me if that were the case."

"I'm sorry," she shook her head, braids swinging gently. "I wish we had met, because I would be better able to help you. But I'll still try. My name is Sally."

A sudden squawking from the room beyond interrupted them and a form blurred through the hanging curtain. Trowa just got his arm up in time for a large hawk to land on it. He blinked. "Kai?"

"Hey, Trowa, sorry about that! Hilde and me…" Duo trailed off as he came into the house, eyes widening in surprise. "Sandrock!"

The hawk gave a happy cry and bounced from Trowa's arm to Duo's.

"He obviously knows you," Sally said.

"He's alive! Oh, Cat will be so glad to see you, buster!" Duo cheerfully scruffed the hawk's feathered head, which he barely tolerated. But it was virtually the only part of the bird not carefully wrapped in bandages. Both talons had thick wraps on them, and one wing was still splinted, explaining why he did not soar so much as hobble in the air.

"I found him mostly dead on my way down here from the North Pole," Sally said. "He reminded me of another hawk I'd met recently and I wondered if he had as loyal a handler, so I decided to fix him up. He's not quite ready to fly yet, but with a few more healing treatments, he should recover completely. Especially for someone he loves and wants to see again."

"Cat?" Hilde asked.

"Cat, I mean Quatre, is our friend. This is Sandrock, Quatre's hawk. We thought he was lost forever in, um, Republic City," Duo suddenly slowed his chatter as he eyed Sally and Hilde.

"You mean the ambush?" Sally asked.

Trowa sensed trouble in the air and carefully lifted the injured hawk from Duo, settling it easily in his arms and soothing it as best he could. His braided friend had tensed visibly and his fingers twitched.

Duo narrowed his eyes. "What do you know about it being an ambush?"

"More than you'd think," Sally replied matter-of-factly. "The disadvantage to there being three different water tribes is that it takes forever to get them to agree on anything. The advantage is that waterbending sailors are the world's worst gossips and you learn a lot. Plus this," she reached into a pocket and drew out something small and round which she flipped to him. Duo looked at the item in his hand and recognized it as a white lotus tile.

"You're in the Order?" Duo was surprised.

"We both are," Hilde said brightly. "The Mid-Water Tribe has always had close ties to the White Lotus, and with things heating up in the world, they needed healers they could trust."

"So once we learned that a masked bloodbender who was known as Shinigami had been here, and that was undoubtedly your work, it was a fairly simple conclusion to draw," Sally finished. "We've been following you five fairly closely through the Order. You may be the White Lotus's last hope."

"We're somebody's last hope, but probably not theirs. The Order isn't what it's cracked up to be," Duo said. "I mean, this is great because I don't have to keep as many secrets, but you gotta watch out. A lot of those Order guys don't know what they're talking about."

"Oh, we know," Sally said, smiling slowly, "which is why Hilde and I will be joining you Gundams instead."

-==OOO==-

Treize made a mental note of the day that had passed when the morning meal arrived. He would not actually mark anything in the room in which he had been imprisoned, if for no other reason than he would not allow himself to be seen doing anything at all. Whenever he perceived someone near to the room in which he was held, he moved to sit on the provided chair, staring straight ahead. At first no one had noticed, but now, days later, it unnerved every guard who came. Also, his total lack of response made them think he paid them no attention. So they were beginning to talk while within earshot.

Thus far, Treize had learned rather conflicting things from his captors. Alex and Muller, who appeared more often than any other guards, were clearly members of the Order of the Black Lotus – it only took a few moments of listening to them to them to uncover their deep-seated hate of firebenders in general and himself in particular. But others, guards much less well-connected, spoke instead of the White Lotus.

Was it possible the two sides of the battle had come together to seize him? But if so, why?

So Treize waited and listened.

He had been imprisoned close to two weeks when at last a commotion sounded in the hallway outside his prison. The stone walls and door were thin enough to allow quite a bit of sound into his prison, thin enough that had Treize set his mind to it he could have heated his way through them without too much trouble. But the presence of Alex and Muller had intrigued him, so he had forestalled. Now, however…

"How did you find us?" Alex was demanding, and there was panic in his upraised voice.

The response was growled too lowly to be audible.

"We were just…we had orders!" Muller shouted stubbornly. "It's in the best interest of the Earth Kingdom—"

The crashing that sounded cut off the rest of the conversation. Treize tipped his head curiously. He'd expected Une, frankly, and some days before. To be rescued by an earthbender was rather surprising.

His door slid out of place and Treize decided he should not have been surprised after all. "I did not expect to see you so soon, Zechs. This was not a part of our agreement."

"Obviously not," Zechs replied coolly. "But you will do little good from in here."

"I could have left at any time," Treize stood and straightened his jacket calmly.

"Yes, but you are needed _now_."

-==OOO==-

Trowa focused on his breathing to keep from fidgeting. Stillness was a virtue, but the just-warm water that moved around his head felt downright eerie. Relaxing, in a strange way, but still eerie.

"What exactly are you doing with his ears?" Duo asked, looking on curiously.

"She's not healing his _ears_ ," Hilde rolled her eyes. "It's just a way for her to get to his mind."

"I think I can feel the problem," Sally said from above where Trowa knelt on the floor. "There's a lot of energy twisted up and stagnant instead of flowing." Then, more softly, "I'm going to make a tiny change, all right? Let me know if it hurts."

Trowa couldn't nod, so he shrugged.

But the instant Sally began to bend, Trowa flung himself from her hands and curled his head down onto his knees, holding his own ears as his brain felt like it was on fire. At his movement, Duo dashed to his side, supporting his shaking shoulders.

"Hang on, Trowa. Just breathe," he urged. Then, looking back over his shoulder, "His heart is racing and he's sweating really badly. Whatever you did, I don't think it worked!"

"Yes, I gathered that," Sally commented sourly. "I'm sorry. I probably tried to do too much at once. We'll give it a little time and try again."

Hilde appeared at Duo's elbow with a cup of warm tea, which he took with a smile and pushed into Trowa's hands. Trowa felt his pain lessening and managed to let go of his head long enough to take a sip. The warmth and the solidness of such a simple act as drinking tea helped him relax even further. He was barely aware of Duo patting his back.

There was a pounding at the door. Hilde and Sally exchanged glances before Sally moved to open it.

"Urgent news!" shouted the messenger. Sally recognized him as a member of the Order who primarily kept the Mid-Tribe elders in Ice Haven informed.

"What's happened?"

"The Fire Nation has declared war against the Earth Kingdom _and_ Republic City!"

-==OOO==-

All of Treize's refined poise evaporated in a flash of anger. " _Why_?" he demanded, eyes flashing.

"The Fire Lord is taking your abduction as a personal insult. That, added to the treatment of firebenders by the Earth Kingdom was enough for him to decide to launch a full-out war against everyone he feels is a threat to himself and his people," Zechs answered. He gestured a little amusedly for Treize to proceed him out of the cell.

"I understand the break in our plan, then," Treize nodded. "I would be very disappointed to miss the final act of our little game." He had regained himself, but for one who knew him well, Zechs could still see Treize's anger in the line of his shoulders.

"Did you happen to learn who was behind this?" Zechs asked conversationally as the two began to make their way through the deep underground hideout.

"Unless I am much mistaken, I appeared to be in both Black Lotus and White Lotus hands," Treize replied. He paused as they passed a pair of bodies that were familiar. "Zechs, I'm sorry about the men you lost," he said.

"They would have soon betrayed me anyway," Zechs answered without emotion. "Just as they betrayed the White Lotus to the Black, though they lacked the courage to do anything but proclaim their ideals. It was my mistake for ever trusting them in the first place."

"So this was a White Lotus gambit?"

"Yes. The White Lotus was informed that you were the Grand Master of the Order of the Black Lotus and decided to remove you from the equation. You should have known they were mostly White Lotus, except for the spies in their ranks – the Black Lotus would have killed you outright."

"That's true," Treize nodded. Then he stopped. "Zechs, how do you know I am _not_ the Grand Master of the Black Lotus? I could be another traitor inside your armor." He faced him.

Zechs didn't even stop moving. "I don't know that you aren't, but even if you _were_ the Grand Master of the Black Lotus, I wouldn't fear. I know your ambitions. I know what you will pursue, and frankly, how you get there doesn't interest me. I know you too well to worry about something like that, Treize."

That drew a smile from the firebender's face. He continued to step beside his friend. "Quite correct. I will see my goals through to the end, using whatever means necessary. That was always the point, was it not, of our choice?"

"And thus my rescue," Zechs pushed a hand into the wall and it dropped away, revealing a stairway to the surface. "I would be quite sorry to waste all our many discussions by leaving you in incompetent hands when you should be living up to your life's only goal."

As they emerged into the sunlight, Treize blinked for a moment, looking around. They were still on the shore of the great inland lakes, the western side going by the position of the Serpent's Pass. A pair of eelhounds waited nearby. Treize frowned.

"Zechs, Lady Une should have been with you. It's unlike her to fail to appear at just the moment I need her."

Zechs's mouth tightened and he reached into the folds of his uniform. He pulled out a pair of scraps of parchment. "Epyon brought me the first of these a few days ago. The second did not appear until dawn today, or I would have been here sooner."

Treize took them and opened them in order. The first was a communication from Une herself, stating that Treize had been taken prisoner by the Order of the White Lotus and that she intended to rescue him (and she apologized in advance if she was forced to harm any soldiers loyal to Zechs in the process). Her hand was steady and there was nothing unusual in the writing – it was Une as he expected her.

The second was not. The parchment was torn from a corner of something else, the words hastily scribbled. And the edge of the page was red with blood.

"Ambushed. Black Lotus. Republic City. Save Treize."

Treize compulsively crumpled the paper in his hand, releasing the unmistakable scent of soot and ash.

-==OOO==-

Heero and Wufei should have been in Republic City sooner but for a detour made out of cautiousness. The pair had taken a boat from one of the rivers near Omashu well north before disembarking and opting to travel along the shore for the last part of the journey, mainly because it allowed them to move quickly but anonymously. So they were near the mouth of the inlet that led from the greater ocean to the channel that became the western lake to the south of Ba Sing Se when they came upon a battle in the middle of the night.

Three large ships were converged together, one obviously of the Fire Nation navy, the others harder to identify. But the Fire Nation ship was already listing to its side, enormous holes torn in it from what could only be metalbending. And from what they could see, things had already progressed from a "battle" to what they would describe as a "rout."

Heero and Wufei exchanged a lightning-quick glance, drawing the same conclusion. Unless the Earth Kingdom had gone to war in unmarked ships, that was an attack on the Fire Nation by the Black Lotus. And any time the Black Lotus appeared, Heero and Wufei were happy to greet them. They donned their masks and threw themselves into the fray.

Wufei drew his sword and jumped to fight on the deck of the sinking ship, fending off all comers with the ferocity of his pent-up anger like an army in a single fighter. Meanwhile, Heero stabilized the ship by pulling up a massive column of earth from under the water to support it. Then, because the other earthbenders in the area seemed more intent on the battle itself, he easily ripped a portion of one of the Black Lotus ship's stern off.

After that, the battle ended quite rapidly; one of the two ships tipped dangerously and sparked a panic amongst its crew. The remaining Black Lotus ship, aided by the presence of a few waterbenders on board, quickly pivoted and began to race away, Black Lotus members leaping to it from both the other ships. Heero made to pursue them, but he was stopped by a shout from Wufei on the Fire Nation ship.

"This is more important," the firebender said. When Heero joined him, he led him to the commanding tower that had half-collapsed onto the deck. There were only a few Fire Nation soldiers still alive, most of them injured, and they were clustered around the base of what was left of the tower. When the two Gundams drew near, their eyes widened behind their masks.

Lying in a pool of blood was unmistakably Lady Une, right-hand to Prince Treize of the Fire Nation.

"Captain," she was just rasping. "My report…"

"They're getting it, my lady," he answered. "None of those cowards ever got below-decks."

"Good."

"But you are grievously injured and you need more help than we can give you," he said. Then he looked up at the two remarkable benders who had driven off their enemies. "We owe you a debt of honor for coming to our rescue," he bowed to them.

Then he noticed Wufei's mask.

"You!" his eyebrows met the crest of his helmet in his surprise. "We were hunting you for a time, before we had new orders."

"If you intend to hunt me again now," Wufei said slyly, "I believe you will lose. You are slightly short on manpower currently."

"You were General Treize's opponent," Une managed, peering at him. A few soldiers had finished carefully digging her out from under the fallen metal, and they were hastily pressing bandages to where blood poured from broken and blackened skin. "Who do you fight for?"

"We fight for the Gundams," Heero answered promptly.

"And who are the Gundams and what do they seek?" the captain put in.

"We are sworn to destroy the Order of the Black Lotus, and to defend the right of people to choose their own path," Wufei replied. "We answer to none but ourselves, and we will pursue justice without rest, but we alone will define the meaning of justice."

Une made a choking sound that resolved itself into a chuckle. "The General was correct about you, then."

Heero and Wufei exchanged glances and shrugged.

"What are your orders, Lady Une?" the captain turned to her. A limping soldier whose helmet had recently been on fire appeared with a heavy stack of parchment carefully bound together in his hands.

"This information must reach General Treize at any cost. And," she coughed a bit, "we must warn Relena Peacecraft in Republic City. Those who attacked us will aim their anger at her next."

Heero went very still. Then he knelt down and looked straight into Lady Une's eyes. "I will get you and your information to Republic City safely, but you must share its contents in exchange."

"Agreed," Une didn't even hesitate.

"Republic City is too far to walk. The injured will never survive the journey," the captain protested. Heero looked back over his shoulder and glared – the effect was ruined by the mask, but its chill was palpable anyway.

"Gather your men together with any supplies you need to survive." He turned to Wufei, who nodded, before Heero continued, "There are far better ways to reach Republic City than walking."

"Then hurry men!" the captain glanced back at where Une was turning more pale and her bandages soaked through. "We have no time to spare!"

Which was how Heero ended up directing a sliver of a piece of earth at the fastest pace he could manage for Republic City, with all aboard holding on and hoping that Lady Une would survive the journey.

-==OOO==-

"Old friend," Zechs said softly, "I am sorry."

"Don't be," Treize looked up blazingly. "Une does not walk away from a fight, even to contact me. She sent me this after the battle. I must believe she will endure a little longer."

"Treize," Zechs put a hand out and caught him by the shoulder. "I know what you're going to do. And you know what I will do. When next we meet, we will be enemies."

"We must be enemies on the battlefield, yes," Treize nodded. "The time for that has finally come. Though I believe we have both long regretted that it must be so."

"Then if we meet afterwards," Zechs said intently, "there is something I wish you to know."

Treize smiled at him. "You would not show me your face when you saved me those years ago, and then the metal might have burned your skin to ash, but you would show me now?"

"It isn't that," Zechs shook his head. "Not exactly. Rather something I ought to tell you."

"Zechs, my friend, there is nothing to say." Treize gripped Zech's opposite shoulder warmly, closing the circle between them. "What is in your heart I already know, and your mind you keep your own that you might surprise me when we meet in battle."

"It's my name," Zechs said then.

"In all the years we have known one another, have you never wondered why I let you keep that mask on that fateful day?" Treize replied. When Zechs's lips turned downward, Treize smiled smugly. "I am a very great fool about many things, but I am not so great a fool I would not know the son of Marticus Peacecraft when he risked his life to save my own."

Zechs actually stepped back in surprise. "You knew?"

"Always," Treize's face warmed with more satisfaction. "Did you think you were the only one who remembered a precocious child friend from our youth?"

"Then you know Relena…"

"Yes," Treize nodded. "Don't worry, Zechs. Or should I say Millardo? The Fire Lord may wish to burn Republic City to the ground, but I won't let your sister burn with it, and, honestly, I'd rather avoid the burning altogether. It's so very difficult to rebuild after that much fire, you know."

"I ought to pound you where you stand for always knowing my true identity and never telling me so," Zechs growled. "You have been laughing at me all this time!"

"And you have not been laughing at what you thought was my ignorance?" Treize returned. Then, more soberly, "It was Darlian, then, who was your father Marticus? I am sorry again for his loss. May he be the last of the good men to die for such foolishness."

"He won't be," Zechs replied coldly. "You know that. We will kill them ourselves before the end."

"I know," Treize replied heavily, turning from the Lightning Count and mounting one of the waiting eelhounds. "When next we meet, Zechs, I will no longer be your friend. But you shall always be mine."

"Goodbye Treize. And good luck. I hope Une is all right."

"She's waiting for me," Treize looked off into the distance. "I will not disappoint her."

And he kicked the creature's flanks and sped off.


	23. Into the Unknown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "History does not remember what didn't happen," Sally nodded, "but we do. And I know that the Gundams have already given us a chance at peace by sparing us from something so much worse. Nobody really knows whose side the Gundams are on, but we know they are on the right side."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For all that I simplified the politics of Gundam Wing to fit into this story, they've still got a few twists and turns left. It wouldn't be Gundam Wing otherwise!
> 
> Enjoy!

Secretariat Septum looked up at the knock on his door. He paused, tense, before calling "Enter." As the door opened, his hand strayed to the small throwing dagger he kept strapped to the arm of his chair for just this circumstance should his visitor prove dangerous.

But the man who entered was not one Septum would need to defend against.

"I didn't know you were coming yourself," he said as he rose with a polite bow.

"Too many variables to try to track any other way," replied the white-haired man. He moved into the room with a tight sort of grace, like cord wound until it cast off water droplets from the tension. "Besides, it is worth ensuring you are prepared."

"Why wouldn't I be?" Septum bristled. "We've been preparing for this for too long to fail now."

"Which is precisely the time failure is most likely to occur," his visitor swept to a chair, settling himself. He did not drape himself as did nobles at court, his robes swirling around him majestically. In fact, there was nothing majestic at all about the man. His close-fitting white tunic and trousers, with an over-coat of blue, were utilitarian rather than fine. His white hair, combed back from his broad forehead, lent him an air of intellect and focus, but it hung loose like a peasant's.

Septum was forever amazed that such a man had risen to become a Grand Master of the Order.

"Everything has happened as was ordered," he said instead, sitting across from the man. "The Fire Nation has declared war. The only unexpected flaw is that General Zechs is not here and the Earth King is asking for him."

"That is not unexpected and it is not a flaw."

"What do you mean?" Septum leaned forward. "If you have been keeping something from me, Quinze..."

"I thought you knew," Quinze returned with a shrug. "Zechs is not a problem either way. The fact that he is not here is a useful opening for you, but it is not necessary."

"You suggest I use his absence?"

"I encourage it," Quinze nodded. "You have a small window of opportunity. Speak to Noventa. Bring him this," and he pulled from within his tunic a single scroll. "The intelligence is not falsified. It didn't need to be. The Fire Nation is preparing to move against Republic City and use a victory there to gain a foothold on the continent. Earth King Noventa will have no choice but to declare war and send his own army in response."

Septum took up the scroll and glanced at its contents.

"This is how I take command, then," he said.

"Yes. With General Zechs away, you can offer to head the military action until he returns. Noventa will never unseat Zechs directly. But if the other generals and military leaders are told that you are in command, they will obey you. Then, once you are on the actual field of battle, you need only receive messages from me and the Five. None will be the wiser."

"And in the end, what will that achieve?"

"Besides an unprecedented victory?" Quinze smiled coldly. "When the battle is over, the people will feel betrayed and sickened by the actions of their king. They will not wish him to have so much power and will demand that Earth King Noventa be more-heavily influenced by his advisers, primarily yourself. His prestige and his control will be weakened. You will act as steward to the Earth Kingdom. And when you forge a peace agreement with the Fire Nation out of the literal ashes of the battle, your own position will be secure for life. You will then be able to bring the Earth Kingdom back to its glory free of foreign influences forever."

"Will the battle be so brutal that an entire nation will cry out for such drastic change?" Septum asked.

Quinze smiled even more coldly and his eyes glinted. "If we are successful, the battle will be so brutal the entire _world_ will cry out."

-==OOO==-

After that dire news was delivered, Sally wasted no time. She sent the messenger back and told him to gather the Mid-Water Tribe elders, as well as any representatives from the North and South poles for a meeting. The young man dashed off at full speed while Sally turned into the room, blue eyes flashing.

"It's finally come to this then," she shook her head. "We will have to decide where we stand, but even a waterbender won't set sail without knowing the winds as well was the waves." She looked at where Duo had sprung to his feet at the announcement of war. "What are the Gundams planning to do?"

"I'm not completely sure," Duo shook his head, "because we've been separated so long. And the guy with all the answers hasn't been in touch."

"Duo," Trowa spoke softly, rising from the floor with a grace that almost hid the strain of the painful healing still echoing in his head. "You told me we were fighting to protect people. That we have the ability to save lives if we get involved."

"You do," Sally confirmed. "Trowa, what you don't remember is that the Gundams are five extraordinary fighters who have been where they were needed more than once in the last few months. We still don't know everything you did or what your actions might have prevented, but we know some things. We know it was a Gundam who killed Dulindal, who was trying to be an emperor of Republic City, which cleared the way for Relena Peacecraft. We know that the Mechanists were saved from an invasion of Black Lotus forces."

"We know that _somebody_ ," Hilde looked piercingly at Duo, "stole documents that were then passed to the Water Tribes that confirmed the involvement of the head of Ice Haven in a conspiracy to blame waterbenders for some kind of attack that never happened. Without that evidence, the Water Tribes would be involved in this war too."

"History does not remember what didn't happen," Sally nodded, "but we do. And I know that the Gundams have already given us a chance at peace by sparing us from something so much worse. Nobody really knows whose side the Gundams are on, but we know they are on the right side."

"Then," Trowa spoke softly, looking at Duo, "we must go. We must be a part of the coming battle if we are to have any chance of controlling its outcome."

"Yeah, but where?" Duo replied. "I'm all for saving the day, but I gotta know where to save it."

"The Tribes may know more," Sally put in. "Come to our meeting." Then, suddenly, she smiled with a gleam in her eyes. "I've got an idea."

Which is how, a short time later, Duo and Trowa, both wearing their Gundam masks, faced the elders of the Mid-Water Tribe and the representatives from the poles while Sally finished talking.

"Because of this, it is my belief that the Water Tribes cannot remain neutral any longer," Sally's voice rang out in the room, her tone and cadence compelling even to those who knew what she was going to say next. "War is coming to our friends and neighbors, to our allies and cousins across the world. But there is a hope for peace in this world, and a hope for victory."

She paused, then took a deep breath.

"The hope for peace comes with Relena Peacecraft of Republic City and the United Republic of Nations. But to ensure peace, we must first win victory over those who seek to make war upon the Earth Kingdom, Republic City, and the emerging United Republic. And the best hope for victory lies with an alliance with a once-faction of the Order of the White Lotus, the Gundams."

There was the start to an uproar, but it was silenced with a loud smacking sound – Sally had lifted the water out of every glass in the room and dropped it all at once.

"I know they don't look like much," she addressed the skepticism writ large on every face, "but these are only two of the five, not including their other allies. Even I have never seen them in tandem, but I know what only one Gundam can do. And so do you. How many here were in Ice Haven the night Shinigami came to put a stop to the Black Lotus's plans?"

That surprised more than a few in the crowd. Sally smiled triumphantly.

A wizened woman rose from her place in the tiered room. Duo didn't know her, but he recognized the symbol on her clothing – she would be the representative for the Northern Water Tribe, and very important at that. When her eyes fell on Sally, the room went silent and still.

"I believe Sally's point is well-taken. There is no doubt that the Gundams," she ducked a tiny, respectful nod at Duo and Trowa, "are positioned to be uniquely helpful in the upcoming conflict. And I share Sally's opinion that we should not stand by. After all, are we Water Tribes not evidence that people may live independently and yet speak with one voice? Are we not three nations that live in harmony in spite of our similarities and our differences?"

"However," she held up a hand as those silenced started to move again, "I would remind all who are present that this is not a governing body. I may speak for my own people, but they must decide on these matters for themselves. Only the Mid-Water Tribe elders here present may choose a course of action. And I would urge them to wait until the North and South send their decisions so we may act as a single force when our course of action is set."

Virtually everyone in the room began making noises of approval and agreement, so the discussion seemed to be ended there. Sally and Hilde led Trowa and Duo out, and once they were clear of the officials, smiled at the masked Gundams.

"That's better than I was expecting, honestly," Sally said.

"They're not helping us," Duo pointed out.

"Not yet," Hilde replied. "But you don't know them like we do. When Yuki speaks, they tend to listen, even the Mid-Water elders. As long as neither of the tribes at the poles comes up with a good reason to back down, the whole Water Tribe people will end up getting involved sooner rather than later."

"They may not join you, not exactly," Sally cautioned, "but they would be fools not to align themselves with the United Republic of Nations and help to defend Republic City. If they agree to do that, it leaves you freer to handle things without worrying about invasion from the sea."

"How soon will the decision be made?" Trowa wanted to know.

"It will only take a few days – long enough for our fasted hawks to get all the way north and back," Sally answered. "And it will take almost no time to mobilize. We've been preparing for something like this for a long time."

"You have?" Duo was surprised.

"Reading the winds and the waves," Hilde reminded him. "When the world holds its breath, the only people who know sooner than us are the airbenders."

"Speaking of hawks," Trowa tipped his head, "we seem to have company."

Swooping down from above was a grey hawk, slightly scruffy, but lean and strong. It waited for no permission but simply alighted on Duo's head.

"Ack! Get off, Sweeper!" he cried, wiggling. The hawk pecked him on the head sharply before hopping to one of his flailing arms.

"A friend of yours?" Hilde giggled.

"Howard's," he said. "He's a Mechanist friend. Come on. I'd rather do this somewhere quiet."

As they made their way back to the house Sally and Hilde shared, Sweeper continually made his annoyance known, cawing loudly and without warning directly in Duo's ear. At some point, Deathscythe appeared as well, but he opted to fly along, now and again diving near enough to the grey interloper to cause Sweeper to have to dodge. Sweeper then retaliated by biting Duo's hair.

"What is with them?" Sally asked, trying not to laugh and mostly failing.

"Sweeper's Howard's hawk," Duo said between trying not to get clawed or bitten and swiping at his own hawk irritably. "He and I go back a long, long time, since before I even had 'Scythe. Sweeps and me got to be pretty good friends. I think he's mad that I ended up with another hawk."

Sweeper gave a loud, ugly cry.

"Oh, shut it," Duo glared at him through the mask. "You were always Howard's anyway. You _have_ a person. I'm not allowed to have a hawk of my own?"

Sweeper snapped his beak with a loud clack. His answer was clear.

"Plus I haven't seen him in a while," Duo continued, ignoring the irate feathered presence on his arm. "It's been a couple of seasons since I was far enough north to visit Howie." He wobbled his head at Sweeper. "Don't tell me you missed me, you feather-brained bag of spare parts!"

It looked like true violence was about to erupt, so Trowa stepped in. He took Sweeper from Duo's arm – and the grey hawk was so surprised to be moved he didn't even resist – and started calming him. Deathscythe alighted on Duo's other shoulder and gave a very "take that!" chirp. Sweeper might have resisted Trowa except that the airbender seemed to know the exact spot where he was molting and took to gently stroking the feathers and soothing the itch.

Finally at Sally's house, the Gundam pair pulled off their masks and set the birds aside. Sweeper and Deathscythe took to aggressively ignoring one another. Heavyarms, who had stayed behind apparently to watch over Sandrock, investigated the new arrival with only a moment's curiosity before settling down and seeming not to care either way. Sandrock greeted Sweeper politely, and the grey hawk responded a little more warmly.

Duo unrolled the message Sweeper had carried and read it through once before looking up. "The Mechanists are ready to move. They're going to stand with the United Republic against the Fire Nation, and they seem to think the Earth Kingdom will be a problem, too. They want to know where to send the bulk of their supplies and resources."

"And they're asking you?" Sally was impressed. "You have some strong allies indeed."

"Where should we tell them to go?" Trowa asked.

Duo stared into the fire for a minute. Then he looked to the four hawks all perched on the mantle, and found an unexpected smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. He stepped over and stroked Sandrock's head very gently.

"Well, obviously the fight is going to be in Republic City. And that's where Heero and Wufei are, too." He looked to Trowa and read agreement in his eyes before he'd even said anything, but for the sake of the other two, finished, "The Gundams are going to protect the city, together."

"All five of you?" Hilde asked. "I thought you hadn't heard from the fifth."

"All five of us," Duo nodded. "Quatre wouldn't miss this for the world, and neither would we."

"We should go now," Trowa said suddenly. "You two can come with your people later. But we should be there before anything else happens, just in case."

Trowa didn't say what he was feeling, an odd stirring of potent emotion inside, but from the look in Duo's eyes he understood it. Even memory-less, Trowa felt unequivocally that he should be with the others who wore masks, the others who called themselves Gundams. He didn't know all their faces, he didn't know who he had been to them, or they to him, before. But he knew he needed to be there with them now.

And going by Duo's face, he knew it, too.

-==OOO==-

There was something symmetrical about the fact that the last time Heero had been in Republic City, he had been riding a slab of earth at his best speed to get to the far pass – in that case because of an attack in the city that ended up leading himself and the other masks into an ambush. This time, he was again riding a slab of earth, but he had to go around to a different pass because his was still blocked, and he was just as likely heading into another ambush.

Wufei had sent Shenlong ahead with a message in case there was someone in the Order who might be willing to smooth their way into Republic City, but he returned not long thereafter with the message undelivered. Both Wufei and Heero knew well that they would never be permitted to just crash through the guarded gate and fly along in the city – they had barely gotten away with that before, and mostly, as far as they knew, only because they had been quicker to respond to the attack in the city than the local guards. This time, with a declaration of war and a destructive history, Wufei would be astonished if the guards were not heavily deployed and prepared at all times for anything remotely dangerous. He was preparing himself for a fight when Heero looked up from where his eyes had been locked on the ground and whistled brightly.

Wing flapped up beside them, taking Wufei's offered arm; the firebender realized Heero was slightly busy with keeping them all moving.

"Wing," Heero spoke sharply, "do you remember Relena Peacecraft? I went to her house. She's the girl who stopped me outside the palace in Ba Sing Se."

"You know the Peacecraft of Republic City?" Wufei was surprised.

"I don't _know_ her," Heero denied, "but I have met her. And Wing wasn't far from me then."

The hawk tipped his head. All messenger hawks were highly intelligent, able to recall people they had met before and track their location if they had a general idea of where to look, but Wufei caught a shrewdness in Wing's eyes he saw more in creatures like sky bison – a nearly human intellect in a furry, or feathered, form. Then Wing clacked his beak once.

"Give him the message," Heero said to Wufei, who transferred the scroll from Shenlong; the bird was just as glad to get off the bouncing disc of stone and back into the air. When the message was secured, Heero spoke carefully, lowly. "Wing, take this straight to Relena Peacecraft. You'll find her somewhere in the center of the city. There will be guards and others around her. You cannot let anyone but her touch that message, no matter what it takes. Understood?"

The bird snapped out a cry that was so like Heero's own "mission accepted," Wufei found himself smiling behind his mask. Wing launched himself into the sky, arrowing straight for the city.

As they approached the final hills that marked Republic City's edges, Wufei and Heero exchanged silent glances. There was every chance the pair of them could be attacked and taken into custody when they had to explain themselves to the guards. After all, their last visit hadn't been peaceful exactly, even if they hadn't been responsible for the black-clad people who had tried to destroy the center of the city. Heero opted not to go over the hills but instead through a proper pass, if for no other reason than it was faster and it looked less like another incoming attack than roaring down the mountainside would. More likely to run into guards, yes, but also more likely to survive the encounter.

By the time they could see the pass, however, they were surprised.

Ranged across the road were a few soldiers wearing the city's guard uniforms and a small number in Fire Nation garb, but out in front stood an earthbender and a firebender both knew well enough. Noin and Fire Nation Princess Dorothy were waiting for them. With a strong leap, Noin called her own piece of rock to her, approaching them and matching Heero's pace as he flew across the ground.

"Noin," Une rasped from where she remained lying on the chunk of earth. She was being cradled as gently as Heero could manage, and a few soldiers supported her injured body as well, but now she forced herself to sit up. "I need…"

"I know," Noin cut her off, drawing up alongside. "You're cleared to enter the city. We're to take Lady Une and all of you straight to Relena Peacecraft's private residence. A healer will be waiting."

Noin eyed the two masked Gundams carefully, but her real interest fell on Lady Une and the packet of parchment she had not released even once.

"Captain!" Dorothy's voice rippled through the air as Heero steered more carefully around the last bends in the road; they were near enough to the pass to see the city glimmering on the other side now. "I require you and your men to join me at once!"

Noin let out a tiny noise of utter exasperation and disgust, but only Heero and Wufei were close enough to hear it. Then she said, "Better let them off. If you'll allow me, I'll help you with Une."

Heero considered for less than an instant before bringing his rocky conveyance to a halt. The Fire Nation survivors seemed very, very wary as they disembarked, but Une quietly reinforced the order and they went to attend to their princess. The instant they were clear, Heero and Noin moved in near tandem unison to strengthen and deepen the pocket that held Lady Une and move even more quickly through the pass and into the city.

"Your message reached us in time to save me from something truly undiplomatic," Noin said to Heero. "No offense, Lady, but your princess is a little tough to take."

"None…taken," Une gasped at the increased speed before settling back. Wufei bent to support her, quietly marveling that he was willingly aiding a woman who was likely a threat to him and all he intended to protect. "It is no secret that I have had my own difficulties with the Fire Nation's youngest heir. Otherwise she might have ordered me to join her as well."

"Should we be concerned about what your men will tell her?" Wufei asked. Though they had been in the wilderness, that had not stopped news from reaching them of the Fire Nation's decree of war.

"No," Une said stoutly. "Their loyalty is to General Treize, not Princess Dorothy. They will say nothing. And besides," she smiled a little, "they have nothing to say. No one but myself knows what I carry." She tightened her white grip on the bundle.

"As much as I don't want to be fighting," Noin said, "at least that war declaration did _some_ good." When Une looked at her askance, she laughed. "It gave us reason to remove Princess Dorothy from Republic City! I was just in the process of escorting her from Relena's home when that hawk arrived."

"What about me?" Une's question was dangerously soft. "I am also Fire Nation as you well know, Noin, and probably more dangerous than she is, even incapacitated as I am."

"She stays," Heero's voice brokered no questions.

"She does," Noin agreed, "because she is injured. Republic City may be at war with the Fire Nation, but we will not turn away from any who are hurt and require our assistance. You are a designated guest of the state. Our desire for peace extends even to those of enemy lands when they are in need."

"Our?" Wufei asked. "You are of the Earth Kingdom. You're one of General Zechs's own commanders."

"I'm both," Noin shrugged. "Today, I'm Relena's."

No one could see Heero smile under his mask, but he did.

-==OOO==-

As soon as Treize met up with his ship, he sent them at best speed straight west. By then, Epyon had found him again, and between that bird and a few other hawks his ship's captain kept, Treize sent out messages to every officer he knew. He also waited for a missive from the Fire Nation once he sent the word along that he was freed and unharmed.

When the orders came from the Fire Lord, Treize did not even cringe, though he might have winced very delicately.

 

> " _Form up with the rest of our forces outside Republic City. We will raze it to the ground and continue on to eliminate whatever forces of the Earth Kingdom's we can to weaken our opponent. Then turn your attention to the enclosed list of traitorous provinces and restore order by any means necessary_."

"It is time indeed, Zechs," he mused to himself as he stood alone at the bow, staring out at the low sun. "Now we will learn once and for all where the true strength of humanity lies."

"General?" inquired a voice behind him. Treize turned to see the first mate, three hawks spread across his arms and shoulders. "They're all for you, sir."

"Thank you," Treize nodded politely. He removed the parchments to read them, nodding to himself. Then he said, "Please have the captain gather as many of the crew as he can spare on deck as soon as possible. I need to address them myself."

The soldier snapped a salute in spite of the hawks, which flapped in protest, and rushed off. The sun had barely changed position in the sky before virtually everyone on board the ship was arrayed before him. Treize looked over all the men and women who had served with him, and though he felt confident, he took a deep breath.

"I have called you here to ask you a single question," Treize said. "To whom do you owe your loyalty?"

There was confused silence as the soldiers looked at one another. Then the first mate stepped forward and bowed low.

"My loyalty is to the Fire Nation, General Treize, and to you."

"Not to the Fire Lord?" Treize raised an eyebrow.

"No, sir," the soldier met his eyes calmly. "The Fire Lord is not the Fire Nation. His heart does not burn with the pride and honor that we serve. I believe yours does. Fire Lord Dermail does not command me and I do not fight for him. I fight for our people, and I fight for you, General."

The first mate did not even swallow nervously at the audible response behind him. His words walked a very thin line from treason, and everyone onboard knew it. Treize would be well within his rights to execute the man where he stood.

"How many of you agree with this man?" Treize said loudly.

There was a moment of shuffling silence before people began moving forward. At first it was only a few who came to stand next to the mate, but then most everybody on the deck was shifting closer. Treize watched the crowd carefully. Not a single soldier slipped away or stepped backwards. Every one moved forward deliberately.

The captain of the ship pushed through his soldiers to stand in front of the first mate as if to protect him. "Here is our answer. What is your response, General Treize?"

Treize smiled. "That I am fortunate indeed to have earned the respect and loyalty of good men such as yourself, captain. Your crew does you much honor. But I wonder if your trust in me goes so far as to follow me where even sages would fear to tread."

"Always, General," the captain affirmed. Heads nodded throughout the crowd.

"Then together we must embark upon the most dangerous mission of our lives. We have been ordered to make war against Republic City and the Earth Kingdom, and after that to suppress our own people with violence should they resist. These are the decrees of my father, Fire Lord Dermail." His smile became canny and keen. "I intend to follow them for now, in my own way."

"And what way is that, General?" the captain asked. "Tell us your plan. We stand with you."

"It has long been my belief that those who seek the freedom to rule themselves must first demonstrate their own courage. Before the death of Avatar Yuy, the world stood on a tipping point when I believe many places might have found that courage without war inciting them to it. Now, however, I believe war is what will define their courage.

"We will obey the Fire Lord's orders for now," Treize continued, "and we shall prepare for war with the Earth Kingdom and Republic City. Only when our flames are at their throats will the people of this world face that moment where they must choose freedom or submission, self-determination or tyranny. We will fight until that moment.

"When the people make their choice, then so shall we. And if what they choose is, as I hope, courage and honor, then we will make no war upon them. We will instead fight for a Fire Nation of honor, not oppression. We may find ourselves crossing blades with allies or friends. We may have to carry our fight all the way back to Capital Island. But if this world chooses resolute peace, I will ensure there are no obstacles to prevent it. I do not wish to rule the Fire Nation, but I will not allow the Fire Nation to repeat the mistakes of The Fire Lord's War.

"There are others who feel as I do, other commanders and units who will follow me loyally even if I lead them into treason against my father. But it is my belief that war is inevitable and necessary to allow the world to fracture and grow – a bird must break the egg that confines it if it is to fly. I believe the Fire Nation must not grip the egg and keep the chick within until it suffocates and dies. And if that is treason, if there is no other way but for me to force Fire Lord Dermail's hand, then I will do it.

"Will you follow me into war? A war that will define our people as The Fire Lord's War defined the people two-hundred years ago? Will you fight beside me to draw that passion from the people to determine if they have the strength to do what must be done? And if I must turn against the Fire Lord, will you stand with me to uphold the honor of the Fire Nation against even its ruler?"

The affirmative shout from every man and woman on the ship was deafening.


	24. The Picture Connects

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "That," Heero said, "is why we are not alone when we are together. Our evils balance when we are together. Our strengths are enhanced and our weaknesses are lessened. Stop pulling away."
> 
> "Never alone," Wufei said. He looked to Heero and Duo and Trowa. "I never would have believed I would say this, as I have spent a lifetime interested in leaning on no one and standing on my own. But somehow, these last few weeks have convinced me that we should hold to this oath, not just for Quatre, but for us all. We are incomplete when we are apart. I believe Heero is correct. We are stronger together."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starting to come together now!
> 
> Enjoy!

Having Noin with them meant that city guards cleared the streets and no one looked too closely at the rushing earthbenders flying through Republic City with the speed of the wind. Heero had given control of most of the bending to Noin, who knew where she was going better than he, but he did not fail to notice that she carried a certain tension beyond what she belied in her movements. Her bending gave it away. And after a moment, Heero realized that Noin was keeping a very careful part of herself extended to the stone that was beneath Wufei, as if she expected to need to guard against him at any moment.

But she said nothing and caused no trouble. She ended up skipping their conveyance over the water of the peninsula and even over the roofs of some of the buildings as if it were a leaf, and Heero hid a smile behind his mask as he helped her lift them high enough. At least she was an excellent earthbender, and if she were this concerned about them even as she brought them to Relena, she was an excellent protector as well. He was glad of it.

Relena Peacecraft stood outside a moderate home down a quiet lane a short distance from the center of the city, head up and waiting. Heero noted that she carried herself with much more pride and strength than she had when last they saw one another, but there was still that flash in her eyes of the ideals she had spoken so forcefully once.

"There's a healer inside," Relena said without preamble. "Noin, please see Lady Une to him at once."

Noin looked like she wanted to object, but something in Relena's expression held her silent and she simply nodded. "Sorry about this, Une," she said softly, stopping and hoisting the firebender into her arms. Une turned quite pale at the movement, but made no sound even as Noin ran with her into the house.

"Hello Heero," Relena said gently once the three were alone.

Heero said nothing but removed his mask and nodded at her once. Beside him, Wufei removed his own.

"What was it you told me?" Wufei mused with a sardonic smirk. "You 'only met her one time?' Was that it? And yet she knows your name and your face."

Heero felt unaccountably embarrassed and covered it with a cough. Relena let out a bright laugh.

"Still stubborn and silent," she smiled. Then she bowed low. "As the Peacecraft of Republic City and the United Republic of Nations, I thank you for bringing an injured warrior to us for help." Her eyes sharpened. "But can I welcome _you_ here?"

Wufei smiled more genuinely and held out a roll of parchment. "You can. We come as emissaries from Omashu, whatever else we may be. We have also come to help and defend you and your people." He bowed. "I am Wufei."

"Oh, good," Relena took the parchment and glanced at it before she looked up again. "This would be a lot more awkward if I had to greet you as enemies of the state. Please, call me Relena." She held out a hand. After staring at her for a moment, Wufei accepted the gesture for what it was and gripped her arm firmly. When he let go, they both turned to Heero.

"I need to look at the information Une is carrying," Heero said, in utter contrast to the politeness going on around him. Wufei looked as though he wanted to smack the earthbender, but checked himself.

"Relena," Noin came back out of the house and stepped to the girl's shoulder. "You can't let your guard down around them. They attacked the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation!"

"We mean no harm to Republic City or the Peacecraft," Wufei drew himself up stiffly. "My word of honor on that."

"The last time I saw you," Noin returned coldly, "you were burning down a school!"

"It wasn't a school," Heero put in. Noin frowned and he continued, "It wasn't _only_ a school. It was also a secret repository for Fire Nation weapons plans and supplies. The students were there to discourage an attack, human shields for the sake of a war."

Noin's glare darkened. But it was Wufei who spoke.

"There is much you do not know. I do not apologize for my actions, though I never intended to harm children." His eyes burned. "I would _never_ harm children."

"Why did Une trust you?" Noin asked.

"Because she had no choice, and neither do you," Heero told her simply. "You need us. You need the alliance with Omashu that we bring, you need our skills, and you need the information we have on your enemies. We can quarrel all day, but war will come while we do it."

"Relena," Noin began.

"It's all right," Relena shook her head. "I trust Heero." She looked in his eyes intently, and he did not look away. He might even have been smiling a bit, or perhaps it was a trick of the light.

"Oh, fine!" Noin stomped in annoyance. "I don't have to agree with it or like it, but I'm not going to argue this one." Then she grimaced, but one side of her mouth turned up. "They _can't_ be any worse than Dorothy, I guess!"

-==OOO==-

The next week or so passed incredibly quickly.

Heero and Wufei poured over Une's information, reading not only her summary but every scrap she had included. Eventually Une came to some kind of agreement with Noin and Relena that gave them access as well, but there was still a promise on Noin's part not to share what was learned with General Zechs. Heero and Wufei added a few pieces of information of their own, but by and large they kept their own secrets.

Relena was called away not long after she'd seen the start of the documents to join the Council – apparently the news of the Fire Nation's war declaration had spread, and all the nations and people that had come to Republic City for admission into the United Republic were now sending supplies, fighters, and support. With nearly the entire Fire Nation army and navy on its way to the area around Republic City, many, like Kyoshi Island, used their contacts with waterbenders and airbenders to race the fighting force so they would be in place first. The Republic City guards were strong, but compared to the entire Fire Nation forces they were very small. By the end of the week, the peoples committed to defending Republic City had swelled the city's fighters tenfold.

Word also come by way of Deathscythe to Heero and Wufei that Duo and Trowa were on their way, and that the Water Tribes were likely going to be not far behind them. In fact, the Northern Tribe would probably arrive before a decision was formally made by the other two tribes, Duo suggested, and they would hold the perimeter around the bay to keep the Fire Nation ships out.

Noin also learned, and not from Zechs, that the Earth Kingdom had mobilized its forces as well and was sending all available resources to them, not to protect Republic City, per se, but to be in place to prevent any incursion by the Fire Nation into their territory.

When the Lightning Count finally contacted Noin, she shared his information with Relena only.

> " _Earth King Noventa is being influenced by the Black Lotus_ ," he wrote. " _I'm certain of it. For the sake of appearances I am acting as though I am blind to it, following the orders that have come to me through Secretariat Septum. Our orders are very clear that we are to engage the Fire Nation only, not defend Republic City. This is what I will do. I have already spoken to Treize. What he will do is unknown to me, but he will not let harm to come to you or Relena. You must do whatever is necessary for Republic City and your United Republic, even if that means launching an attack against me and my forces. I will mitigate the damage where I can, but until clearer orders come from the Earth King I cannot risk losing my position or everything will fall apart much faster_."

Noin and Relena had whispered frantically for the rest of that day, and both wore looks of great fatigue and burden whenever they spoke to anyone.

That night, when she should have been sleeping, Relena sat on her bed, her feet tucked under her and her unbound hair hanging around her shoulders. Noin sat on the edge of the bed and they regarded one another warily. After a moment, Relena put her head down and started to cry silently. Noin drew the girl into her arms and held her.

"I hate this!" Relena said fiercely. "It doesn't make any _sense_! Why is the Fire Nation starting a war when it will only end with people dead and a world destroyed?"

"From what we have learned, this war is decades in the making," Noin said softly. "I think maybe, and I hate to say this more than you know, maybe Dorothy has half of a point."

"She does?" Relena was flabbergasted.

" _Half_ of a point," Noin emphasized. "There _are_ some people in the world who are more afraid than they are kind, more insecure than they are trusting or brave. They will stir up conflict wherever they go because they know no other way to be. The people who don't want to live next to another kind of bender, or who don't want to live next to someone who decorates their house differently, or who don't want to share a city with someone who sees the world differently – those are the people who want to fight."

"The Black Lotus," Relena said, thinking through everything she had learned from Une's report.

"Not only them," Noin shook her head. "There are many people who feel the same way that didn't join the Order. It's because there are people who are afraid that the Black Lotus got so strong they have turned the Fire Lord to their way of thinking."

"Then what can I do?" Relena felt so small. "How can I fulfill my father's dream now?"

"I said _half_ ," Noin reminded her. "There are also people like you, like me. Even like Heero and Wufei. People who would rather live together in peace than hurt one another. Think about all the villages and islands and cities that sent soldiers to us. Those aren't people who want to fight because they're afraid. They want to fight because they want to protect the idea of peace."

She drew back and met Relena's eyes. "That's what you are, Relena. You're the idea of peace in one person and one city and one nation. You're the idea of hope for something better than war."

"I don't want anybody to fight and die for me!" Relena exclaimed. "I don't think we should solve these problems by fighting. Where will the violence end? How can violence ever save us from violence?"

"It can't," Noin said softly, "but we don't know any other way. No one can make the Fire Lord listen, and it seems that the Black Lotus are truly fanatical. There just isn't any reasoning with them."

"And what happens if we have to fight the Earth Kingdom?" Relena asked in a very small voice.

"I don't think we will," Noin replied. "They aren't declaring war on us. Unless…" and her eyes widened in horror. "Oh no."

"What?"

"Zechs was trying to tell us something in that missive. And I didn't see it until now. Oh no," Noin repeated.

"What is it?"

"He told us he's 'following orders.' He said it twice, remember?" When Relena nodded, she said, "Which means he isn't the one _giving_ orders. Zechs might still be the Earth Kingdom General, but something changed in his situation and he isn't in command. Septum is. And if Septum is part of the Black Lotus…"

"Is he?"

"Your father always thought so," Noin said softly. "Zechs and I have never trusted that man. And if _he's_ the one giving orders, then there's no telling what will happen. The Earth King doesn't leave Ba Sing Se in wartime, so he won't be on the battlefield. If Zechs isn't the one giving orders, there's nothing stopping Septum from claiming he got orders to attack Republic City from the king and going ahead with it. In the chaos of a battle, orders get mixed up all the time. No one will question it, and no one will blame him afterwards, especially if the Black Lotus can make it look like Noventa really did order his soldiers to attack Republic City."

"What can I do?" Relena asked again. "We're caught between the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation. The Black Lotus are against us too. I can't stop this by peace, Noin!"

"No, you can't," Noin said. "But we can. Me, and the fighters, and your brother, and probably Treize too. He might be difficult to understand, but he won't let the world crack apart like this."

"And there's Heero," Relena said softly. "Heero and Wufei."

"There are five of them," Noin nodded. "Remember the attack in the city? Remember how five masked benders defeated and drove off dozens and dozens of fighters by themselves outside the city walls? They're practically an army just by themselves. I saw the pass. That Heero might be the strongest earthbender since Master Toph. And you know what _she_ could do."

"They'll fight," Relena said quietly, "but they'll fight to protect peace and freedom. I know they will. They came here from Omashu. They saved Une. They had no reason for any of it. And if Wufei attacked the school and Heero attacked the palace at Ba Sing Se to destroy weapons…"

"Then they will fight to protect us too." Noin smiled. "I know you don't want a war, Relena. And you can order Republic City and the United Republic to stand down and try a peaceful solution, but I don't think they'll listen. Your peaceful ways have to be protected, and people like me and those boys and all the warriors coming here from all over the world are willing to do that. We're willing to fight so you never have to."

Relena remembered Heero saying something like that to her. She closed her eyes. "I can't stop this battle, can I?"

"No, even a Peacecraft can't stop what is coming."

"But maybe a Peacecraft can lead the way when the fighting stops." Relena felt her courage returning.

"Exactly," Noin squeezed her shoulders again, marveling at the youth of this girl, not even sixteen, who was preparing to command the world. She wished suddenly and passionately that there was a living Avatar still, someone like Relena to guide them. Relena, Noin felt, would have been a very good Avatar in these troubled times.

"I won't tell you not to fight," Relena said after a moment. "It would be sending you to your deaths against the people who won't listen and wouldn't hesitate to kill you if you didn't defend yourselves. But…" she looked up with wide, sad eyes, "please make sure no one fights who shouldn't. Anyone who wants peace the way I do shouldn't have to be a part of the war."

Noin bit her tongue. There was so much she wanted to say to argue that point, or to make clear that a person could both want peace and want to fight, but she didn't. Relena's idealism was important, and it would still change the world. Noin would not argue her out of it or weaken her resolve, not now.

"I'll let the city guard know that any who wish to stay here to guard you rather than venture out against the Fire Nation is welcome," Noin affirmed.

"And you? What will you do?"

Noin froze for a moment before answering. "My place, Relena, is still at your side. I want to join your brother," and the longing was clear in her voice, "but I gave him my word. The best way I can help him is to keep you safe no matter what happens."

If she hadn't given her word, Noin imagined she would be off right now, meeting up with Zechs and following him where he would lead no matter the cost. But he had been adamant. The only way for him, the only way for peace, the only way for the _world_ was with Relena. She would stay here to see it through.

-==OOO==-

The following day, a very large sky bison arrived in Republic City. Duo and Trowa followed their hawks to where Heero and Wufei were already waiting. The pair, not wanting to be too close to any one side in the fight, had made a camp for themselves on the top of one of the lower hills that formed part of the valley that sheltered the city. There were growing signs of Fire Nation and the beginnings of Earth Kingdom troops on the horizon, and from here the pair of Gundams had felt they had the best vantage point. They could see the sea as well as the sky and the earth, but they were away from the other Republic City fortifications being constructed.

"Sorry it took us so long," Duo apologized as his feet hit the ground. He grinned at Heero and Wufei. "We decided to see if we could speed up the Water Tribes."

"And did you?" Wufei asked.

"Yup. They're all in. They'll handle the stuff on the sea. The Northern Tribe should be here before the Fire Nation gets into position, and the others will be here right behind them."

"How did you encourage them to move faster?" Heero wanted to know.

"He annoyed them," Trowa deadpanned. "You would have agreed to anything too if he wouldn't stop talking for that long at you." Then he bowed. "I know we are friends, but I apologize. I don't know you."

"The silent tough guy is Heero," Duo put in, a false smile on his face, "and the cranky firebender is Wufei."

"I am surprised he isn't dead, if this is an example of his annoying nature," Wufei raised an amused eyebrow. Teasing Duo felt normal, even if the answering smirk on Trowa's face wasn't as familiar and comfortable as it should have been, and that loss made something in Wufei's chest feel cold.

"He's adept at defending himself," Trowa replied. "He might have taught them something of waterbending that surprised them into accepting his...convincing."

Heero turned to Duo a little surprised. The waterbender blushed some. But then his face twisted into an eager smirk. "Wanna see?"

And without waiting for an answer, Duo lifted his hands. There wasn't a well anywhere in sight, but water came rushing up the hill from below – there was a small stream that ran through one of the residential neighborhoods in the valley, nothing more than a shining flicker at this distance. But the water came to Duo anyway. He moved with it fluidly, and Heero found himself smiling for real.

Right up until Duo soaked him.

"Serves you right!" he shouted gleefully as Heero levied a glare at him that should have frozen the water solid. "That's for the crazy stunt you pulled in Ba Sing Se."

He couldn't help it. Trowa started to laugh and it was the most honest feeling he had had since he could remember – admittedly not very long – and he let it go. That seemed to surprise Wufei, but after a moment he started to chuckle too, and soon enough three of the four were laughing. Heero just kept glaring until Duo finally relented and drew the water away. But even he was smirking, for someone who knew how to see it.

But suddenly Heero and Trowa stopped and turned to look down the hill at the same moment, Wufei and Duo dropping into stillness as they did so and tensing in anticipation of an attack. But almost at once Heero relaxed and nodded fractionally.

Quatre appeared on the hilltop a moment later.

"It's good to see you all," he said gently. He held himself stiffly, back from the others a little.

"Quatre," Heero's eyes narrowed. "What happened to you?"

It was true that the empath looked thin in a way he hadn't the few weeks before when they'd last seen him. Every line of his body was whip-cord narrow, as though he had been distilled to only the essentials. His eyes, which had always been too big and too bright in his face now seemed infinitely worn and aged, even if they had a light of painful wisdom in them. His bright hair hung limply.

"I'm okay," Quatre shook his head. "I just had some training of my own to do."

"Training?" that was Trowa, and his face was pinched as though he was trying to squint into the sun.

"I told you," Quatre said softly, "when I returned I would try to help you remember why we're together, what we decided when we became Gundams. That I would try to give you back what I took from you."

"Have you learned to control your empathy?" Wufei asked.

"Better than that," Quatre said, smiling just a little. "I've learned to use it." But he looked away for a moment in shame. "I'm just…if you don't trust me to, I would understand."

"Oh, Cat," Duo threw up his hands as he strode over. "What was that thing I told you? Do you remember?"

"Not to throw myself on my sword anymore?"

"Right on the first guess," Duo grinned. Then he slung an arm over Quatre's shoulders. "We're all monsters, you know. All of us. I'm a bloodbender, practically a spirit to hear the rumors they tell about me. Heero collapsed an entire mountain pass. Trowa suffocated some guy with airbending. Wufei's got a thing for burning down temples. You're not different from us. We're all lost."

"That," Heero said, "is why we are not alone when we are together. Our evils balance when we are together. Our strengths are enhanced and our weaknesses are lessened. Stop pulling away."

"Never alone," Wufei said. He looked to Heero and Duo and Trowa. "I never would have believed I would say this, as I have spent a lifetime interested in leaning on no one and standing on my own. But somehow, these last few weeks have convinced me that we should hold to this oath, not just for Quatre, but for us all. We are incomplete when we are apart. I believe Heero is correct. We are stronger together."

"And we'll be stronger still when I remember you," Trowa stepped up. "If you can do something about this, do it." He sat down on the hard ground and closed his eyes. "I trust you."

Quatre looked at the others before smiling a relieved smile and settling down so that he was kneeling behind Trowa. "All right. And thank you."

Truthfully no one really knew what he did. It was mid-afternoon when he began and nightfall when he finished, and in between he did not move. It wasn't like the waterbending healing where the water glowed and moved. Quatre simply knelt, perfectly still, his hands cupped around the crown of Trowa's head, and breathed in and out. There was nothing dramatic about it at all.

But when he finally opened his eyes and smiled tiredly, there was something changed in him, a deep relief and joy that had been absent. And when Trowa opened his own eyes and looked on them, they could all feel his recognition. Trowa wasted no time, but instead spun and gripped Quatre's shoulders tightly.

"Thank you for finding your own kindness again, and thank you for finding me, too," he said simply. Quatre opened his mouth and Trowa cut him off, "And don't even think about apologizing. I already know you've done more than enough of that."

Quatre blushed and his eyes were wet, but he smiled mutely.

"So what's the plan?" Duo asked. He was pretending to lounge casually nearby, but it was a terrible lie. With Trowa restored and Quatre looking like a shadow had finally passed from his heart, he was practically vibrating. They were together again, whole again, and stronger than ever. Now, finally, they could do what they had come together to do in the first place.

"There's a lot to go through," Quatre began.

"You don't know all of it," Wufei said. "Lady Une was carrying a great deal of information for Treize."

"I know," he said. "I haven't seen all of what's in it, but I have a good idea. The Maganacs got me caught up on some of it while they brought me here."

"Where are those guys anyway?" Duo wanted to know. He looked around as if the company of men loyal to Quatre were about to appear.

"They're setting up a camp down there," Quatre gestured. "They're ready to fight to defend Republic City. Who else sent forces to help?"

Heero and Wufei began listing the warriors who had arrived, Duo added their figures from the Water Tribes, and Quatre knew of a few as well besides the Maganacs. Trowa had nothing to add to the conversation, having been claimed by a very large sky bison, and he was making up for not recognizing Triton with very firm scratches to the enormous ears.

"That's more than I was hoping for," Quatre said, adding them up in his head. "We should be about evenly matched to either the Fire Nation or the Earth Kingdom, but not both. It'll be a bad fight, I think, if Noventa turns on us too."

"Will he?"

"I'm not sure yet," Quatre admitted. "But if my guess is right…"

He trailed off at a cry in the sky. Moments later, Kai came winging in, a message in her carrier. But before Quatre could even begin to unroll it, there was another cry from the other direction.

"It's about time!" Duo complained as Deathscythe appeared and landed on his shoulder. "I know you were grabbing a snack, but did you have to take so long?"

"Apparently," Trowa said, smiling secretly as Heavyarms alighted on his forearm.

"It can't be," Quatre whispered, swallowing hard. That cry was so familiar, dangerously painfully so, and the shape that was descending from the darkened sky...

"It is," Trowa said. "He's alive."

Kai gave a great and joyful cry as Sandrock landed on Quatre's outstretched arm. He still had one bandaged foot but otherwise he was entirely well.

"That's the other reason we were late," Duo said softly to Heero and Wufei. "Sally wanted to finish fixing him up for us. For Cat, really."

Quatre tipped his head to Sandrock's and breathed out shakily, not bothering to dash at the tears that ran down his cheeks. He was whispering softly, so softly none but his hawk could hear him. Kai, on his other shoulder, reached around him so she could also butt heads with her mate. The only words that leaked from that circle of relief and joy were, "I'm so glad. I'm _so_ glad. You've saved us all."

Then he turned back to the others, looking energized and full of life. "If someone would," he gestured. Trowa stepped up and took Kai, allowing Quatre to shift Sandrock to a shoulder so he could read the message she'd carried.

"They'll attack all right," he reported. "Noventa isn't giving the orders here and neither is Zechs. It's Septum, and he's Black Lotus down to his core. It's going to be nearly impossible to win."

"Isn't that what we do best?" Duo quipped.

"Don't forget the Mechanists," Wufei put in. "They will be here, too."

"And there's us." Everyone turned to Heero who crossed his arms. "Together, the five of us can more than equal a fair portion of either army. The Black Lotus is already weakened because of their losses after their failed ambush here last time. We don't need numbers. We need intelligence and strength."

His eyes fell on each of them. "With the five of us, we have that."

"We've got a problem, too," Trowa said. The others turned to him in surprise. "I don't mean to ruin the moment, because I agree completely with Heero. We _will_ win this war. But there's something we'll have to do first."

"And what's that?" Wufei asked. He took in Trowa's posture and one hand dropped to the ever-present sword at his hip. Heero was also scowling, and Quatre had a hand pressed against his breastbone.

In almost perfect unison, the five heads swiveled to the west. Between the hill on which they stood and the next one, they could see what Trowa had felt. Hanging low so as to be concealed in the shadows of the mountain in the low light, a Fire Nation war-balloon, small enough to carry only a strike force rather than a full compliment of soldiers, was sneaking into Republic City.

"Before we figure out how to win the war," Trowa said, shaking out his arms with an easy grace, "we've got to put a stop to that."

"Agreed," Quatre's expression hardened like stone.

Heero looked at the other four and felt a confidence he had little known in his painful life. No matter how many soldiers there were, they were inevitably outmatched by the Gundams.

"Mission accepted."


	25. Together at the Well

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Stop it!" Quatre's voice cut through the noise, startling them into silence. "We can't...we can't let ourselves be torn apart this way!"
> 
> "Quatre, you're wrong this time– " Wufei began.
> 
> "No." Quatre's eyes blazed and suddenly the very air was charged by the power of his focus and intensity. "No, you are going to listen to me now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoo boy. I'm seriously considering putting up the chapter right after this one, considering where it leaves off. Give me a few hours to angst over it.
> 
> Enjoy!

"How did they get past the perimeter guards?" Wufei asked as he drew out his mask, running one hand absently over the symbol carved into the inside of the forehead – the Gundam symbol.

"Look," Quatre pointed. "They're taking advantage of the fact that the groups haven't all figured out how to coordinate yet. There's a gap between the earthbenders from the city and that set of lookouts from somewhere else. The soldiers assume the earthbenders are using their earth sense, and the earthbenders are busy building fortifications."

"How would they know about the gap?" Duo wanted to know.

"Quinze," Heero said flatly. "He's in the city. Une's information said as much."

"Quinze?" Quatre's forehead creased as he thought, then his face widened in surprise. "He's _here_? Oh, that is not good."

"Why?" Trowa asked.

"Later. If we have time," Quatre shook his head and drew out his own mask. "They're mostly firebenders down there, I'd guess from the balloon, but if Quinze is behind this, that's a Black Lotus force and they'll have at least one good earthbender."

"So we should not approach them from the ground," Heero concluded. "We would run the risk of being seen anyway."

"Obviously," Wufei said. He was already moving towards Triton. "So we attack from above."

"Hey, Trowa, buddy?" Duo asked as the five clambered aboard the still saddle-less sky bison. "You all set with the airbending thing?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Well, we're gonna be, you know, in the air." Duo sighed. "We're all thinking it. We go up really high and drop down onto the balloon and they'll never even see us coming. But that means Trowa here has to airbend us all down."

"He'll be fine," that was Heero. The earthbender looked intently at Trowa for a moment and nodded once. "We'll be fine. He is strong."

Quatre had managed to clamber aboard Triton without letting go of Sandrock, but now he tossed the hawk into the air beside Kai and the other four hawks. "Trowa, you just need them to read the currents ahead of us, right?"

The airbender looked momentarily surprised before he simply nodded. "Yes. If they dive first, they'll show me where to bend."

"Then let's go." Heero donned his mask and pulled from a pocket a length of metal that he wrapped around his waist with a gesture. Noin had given it to him, actually, as something she knew Zechs often carried into battle. It was nothing but a length of strong, dense metal, but in the hands of an expert metalbender it could become a sword or a rope or a series of flying projectiles or a shield – whatever he needed in the blink of an eye.

Trowa slid his own mask over his face, watching where Quatre was already securing his two shotels, Duo seemed to have no water on him but then had never needed any, and Wufei already had his sword tied tightly to his side. He ran a hand over Triton's head gently, and a sub-vocal rumble told him the sky bison was content and unafraid, a feeling they shared. The return of his memories had not happened all in one dramatic flash, but slowly, like air wearing down a mountain. Trowa could not really recall that transition, but he knew how empty he had been when his mind had been a void and how full he was now that he _knew_. Now that he had seen Heero bend a mountain pass, or Wufei shout up at a crowd of enemies, or Duo laugh in the surf, or Quatre triumph in pai sho – now he knew why they were Gundams and why he belonged here.

Trowa guided Triton high in the sky, using some convenient clouds to conceal them in the dark – even at night, a sky bison's white fur was hard to hide. When they were well up, so far they might be confused for a low-hanging cloud themselves, he took a deep breath. The cold air blew insistently up here, twisting and driving forward. To bring the five of them, without Triton, down on target, would take all the skill he had ever possessed.

The hawks that had accompanied them followed Heavyarms when Trowa signaled the orange hawk and they began to dive straight down. Trowa squeezed Triton's head with his knees in a silent signal, and the bison tipped forward, plunging his five riders into free-fall.

Trowa was pleased but not surprised that none of the other four made so much as a sound as they began to fall. Trowa pulled his arms close to his body to just fall for an instant, though it felt so much longer – it allowed him to gauge the wind for himself and get used to the other four around him. They were arranged in a rough circle, a little more spread out than he wanted. A flick of a hand and the winds pulled them close. No one made a sound, but they seemed to understand him anyway. Trowa, a little ahead of the rest, felt a hand latch onto his left ankle and then, a moment later, another to his right. He didn't need to glance backwards to know that they had linked themselves together to ease his way.

After fifteen heartbeats, Trowa began to bend the air. The hawks below showed him where sudden gusts were and he was able to keep them from being blown off-course. But the most important thing was slowing them down and controlling their momentum – even crashing into the balloon rather than the ship below it without intervention would be fatal at this speed. It wasn't the sort of thing they taught in the temples, not the sort of thing any normal airbender would know how to do. But Trowa had learned to breathe the air from the sky bison. Just because he couldn't fly didn't mean he couldn't _soar_.

Trowa made the final adjustment, swinging all five of them around the side of the balloon before spilling them forward like leaves thrown by the wind into a window. They hit the deck of the balloon's ship fighting.

It was not one of the huge war-machines that could carry more than one hundred soldiers and mechanics at a time, but a size smaller than that had been developed more for transport than war. It was probably crewed by a small number and carrying forty or so, certainly a problem if they got all the way into the heart of Republic City, but not nearly the same kind of problem alone in the air with the Gundams. With the five of them spread out across the deck, the first wave of surprised Black Lotus fighters fell before they even understood their ambush had been ambushed.

Duo looked up from the fight, a dagger red with death in one hand, to assess the situation. Trowa, Heero, and Wufei had charged below-decks to handle the soldiers that had not yet been alerted to danger and, from the sounds of it, were neatly cleaning out the airship. At the other end of the deck, Quatre was working his way to the small metal room where the captain must be steering.

"Shinigami!" he called just as Duo looked over. "We've got a problem!"

Duo wasted no time, rolling his shoulder as he sprinted over – it felt stiff and sore from the bloodbending that had been his opening move. He skidded to a stop beside Quatre and immediately saw what had alarmed his friend. The captain had barricaded himself in, and was in the process of turning the airship sharply to the left. He appeared committed to crashing it into the nearest tall building, probably killing everybody aboard in the process, in an attempt to fulfill at least some part of his mission. There was no glass they could break to get in, just a narrow slit through which they could barely make out the man's form moving quickly at the controls.

"Can you adjust the rudder?" Quatre asked, pointing backwards. Duo flicked a glance over before shaking his head.

"It won't help. We're on course to hit now. We'd have to break it loose from the apparatus first, and I'm not a metalbender. And there's no time to go find that stubborn rockhead!"

"Then bloodbend the captain," Quatre commanded. "Make him turn it himself and we can get Heero to fix it later."

"I already bloodbended when we landed," Duo said with a sinking feeling. His mind raced. "We could get off ourselves, but we won't find the others in time to warn them. They could be anywhere down in that maze of corridors!"

"There's no choice," Quatre's voice was cold. "You _have_ to bloodbend the captain and steer the ship using him until we get the others back together or we will crash and they won't even know it's coming! They'll be unprepared and defenseless!"

"I can't!" Duo exclaimed, glaring pure death at Quatre. "I told you – I'm out!"

"You're _not_!" Quatre replied, getting right in the bloodbender's face. "You told me once it was like emptying a well and you had to let it fill back up."

Quatre grabbed for Duo's bare left arm and cinched both his hands around it.

"Go to the well again," he commanded. "You will find what you need." And he closed his eyes.

Duo looked towards the looming building, and listened to where the others fought for their lives with a muted clanging and shouting from below, and felt warmth like sunlight begin to spill through him. Energy, enough energy to bloodbend a dozen men, pouring into him from Quatre's heart. He couldn't help it – he threw back his head and laughed.

"You really do work miracles, Cat!"

-==OOO==-

Treize stopped outside the pavilion for less time to hesitate than it took to breathe before striding forward. It was his right to enter without being announced, and he intended to use it.

The black pavilion was not remarkably grand, all things considered, but it was high and lit with fire at every join of the tarpaulin to the metal frame. At the far end, a scaled-down version of the Fire Throne sat, ringed by flame. Fire Lord Dermail perched upon it like a spirit of shadow amidst the fire, Dorothy looking oddly pale and ethereal beside him. Spread out before them was a map of the immediate area, Republic City and the surrounding Earth Kingdom lands.

Both turned their eyes to him as he snapped a full bow at the entrance before taking a place on the other side of his father from Dorothy.

"Prince Treize," Dermail greeted his younger child warily. "I did not expect you here so soon."

"I was fortunate to be near enough to your location to prevent delay," Treize spoke politely.

"Treize," the Fire Lord's voice grew deeper and more threatening, "why have you come?"

"Is not the Fire Nation preparing to make war upon Republic City?" Treize replied, looking stalwartly ahead and not even shifting his eyes to the side to see his father. "My place is here, lending my strength to the battle for our people."

"I heard a rumor that you intend to betray us, Uncle Treize," Dorothy said almost cheerfully from the other side of the Fire Lord.

"If that were true," Treize said, "I would have come here merely to die. But I assure you, I have much more important concerns than my own death, so I propose that your sources are mistaken about my treason."

"Death is a gift given at birth." Dorothy shrugged. "I'm sure you know that, Uncle. What I'm not sure of is your loyalty. Can we be certain that your mind has not been twisted by your unnecessary friendship with those from the Earth Kingdom?"

"I give you both my word of honor that my loyalty is to the Fire Nation. I serve no other."

"Very well," Dermail said. Dorothy took in a sharp breath as though she was going to argue, but he silenced her with a gesture. "I know my son's many weaknesses, but he is honorable. If this is his word, we may trust it. And if he betrays us, kill him."

"Yes, Grandfather."

"Then, Treize, it is time you lent your considerable strategic mind to our task. Here is the land and the positions of our forces," the Fire Lord gestured. "When the last of our soldiers arrive, we will be facing a battle on two fronts against formidable odds."

"Is it truly necessary to attack both at once?" Treize asked. "It would seem a more reasonable plan to defeat them in turns."

"No. I will not allow our enemies to remain for any longer than necessary," Dermail shook his head. With a controlled jet of flame he pushed one of the little metal figures across the map. "The Earth Kingdom will not help Republic City, and it is likely they will turn on one another before we defeat either. It will weaken them."

"And if we defeat them both here and now, then what, father?" Treize asked carefully. "Obviously we take Republic City as our own, but what of the Earth Kingdom? Do we continue over the remains of their army to Ba Sing Se to bring down the wall as we did so long ago?"

"Perhaps," the Fire Lord stroked his beard. "Certainly we will annex these lands and any within our grasp. But while Dorothy and I continue forward with the march of our nation, I will leave it to you to subdue the traitors in our midst back home. Subdue them or destroy them."

"The more we battle with our own people, the more may grow desperate enough to fight," Treize said reasonably.

"I don't care!" the Fire Lord clenched his hands into fists. "The people of the Fire Nation will bow or die. I will make war on Capital Island itself if I have to, but this world will bow, as much of it as I can hold! The people whisper such fears in the dark of their hearts. I will _show_ them what they should fear!"

"Grandfather..." Dorothy began.

"They call it 'The Fire Lord's War' even though it was 200 years ago!" he roared. "If the world is going to see us as monsters and conquerors, I think we should _earn_ that reputation!"

"Yes, Fire Lord," Dorothy actually bowed where she sat before straightening up and beginning to lay out a very clever battle strategy.

When the Fire Lord dismissed them somewhat later, Treize stopped Dorothy as she walked towards her own pavilion.

"Why do you side with him, Dorothy? I see in your eyes that you believe his plan to dominate the world is unwise."

Dorothy delicately raised a forked eyebrow before giving a canny smile. "Men and women are savages, Uncle Treize. They kill and fight and they don't care." She turned towards Republic City, hidden by the ridge but its presence remained. "If the world cannot live divided into its nations, be they Four or four-hundred, then they must be _forced_ to live under one power that will keep them from their own evil by any means necessary."

"You would make war to prevent war?" Treize asked.

"I will make war to ensure peace," Dorothy said. "There is a wise man who taught me that violence is the only answer. When all lands are Fire Nation, when all rebellion is burned away, people will stop killing one another. It is the only way."

She swept off, head thrown back proudly. Treize sighed.

"Oh, Dorothy. How little you understand."

-==OOO==-

"You shouldn't be here," Zechs said without even looking up.

A portion of his wall shifted a little. The advantage of being earthbenders was that the army of the Earth Kingdom never needed to travel with accommodations or furniture – they simply produced it wherever they stopped for the night. It helped them move more quickly, which is how in only a matter of weeks a portion of the army was already within striking distance of Republic City.

"I know," came a beloved voice, and Noin stepped out of the wall.

"I have a door, you know," Zechs gestured, one corner of his mouth turning up in amusement.

"And guards outside it," Noin returned. "With all the building and preparing, nobody's going to notice one person only earthbending such a tiny amount."

She crossed the room to stand at Zechs's elbow and moved as if to touch him, but stopping just short. "I've missed you."

"And I you, my dear Noin." Zechs met her hand in midair and brought it to his lips for a soft kiss.

"Relena doesn't know I came," Noin said. "I had to see you."

"Is she well?"

"She is. She's brave and she's doing her best. Darlian would be very, very proud of her."

"I knew she would do well. I didn't realize I would test her so much, though," Zechs said ruefully. "You realize I'm going to have to attack Republic City in this war?"

"Yes. I understood your message." Noin squeezed Zechs's hand tightly. "It's Septum, isn't it?"

"Yes. And I can't get near him without raising suspicions. For now, I fear I will have to play his game."

"To what end?" Noin demanded. "Why not move against him now?"

"It would look like a coup, no better than the Dai Li imprisoning the Earth King in The Fire Lord's War. I would never regain the trust of the army. And if I lose that, I cannot keep them from annihilating Republic City."

"It won't be that easy," Noin returned. "We're not defenseless. And we have a few surprises."

"Good," Zechs looked at her seriously. "Use them. All of them. Stop us, Noin. Stop me and stop Septum and stop Treize, if you can. The madness must stop _here_ and _now_ or the world will die in fire and ice and stone."

"We know, Zechs." Noin closed her eyes for a moment before she reached out and touched his jaw tenderly. "Relena won't fight, won't even advocate fighting. And for that, the world has come to protect her. Including a few old friends. We won't let peace die. Just..." she tipped her head so she could see his eyes clearly through his mask, "don't you die either. You must be there to rebuild what you destroy, Zechs. Promise me."

"Noin, I..."

"Promise me."

"I would die to end this war. That is more important than my own life."

"Death is not the only way to win, Zechs. You'll do a lot more good alive." Noin stroked along his throat and tangled her fingers in his long hair. "Please. Please try. If not for me, for Relena."

"You would be enough for me, Noin," Zechs sighed under her touch. "But I fear we may need a miracle to save us all from ourselves."

"Trust me," Noin smiled. "If I can survive _Dorothy_ following me around for weeks, anything is possible." Then she sobered. "I choose to believe in hope, Zechs."

"Believe it for me, then," he said sadly. "And I'll join you there if I can."

-==OOO==-

In the end, the airship did not crash. Duo bloodbended the captain into steering it to the top of the Gundams' own hilltop, where the Maganacs were waiting for them, summoned by Quatre. The few survivors were taken away to be imprisoned in Republic City, and the bodies were removed for burial. The Maganacs also had a thick packet of pages for Quatre, which Rashid handed over solemnly.

Heero, Duo, Trowa, and Wufei all worked at breaking down the airship, converting it into a fair observation post and a small house that could overlook the area. The thin metal walls were easy to bend and change, and though they tended to echo a little bit, they were a better-fortified position than Heero's beginning earthworks when he and Wufei had claimed the hill.

The Maganacs set up camp around the Gundam buildings, adding a grim yet cheerful air to the whole place. But after the desert-dwellers had shared their food and supplies with the Gundams, Quatre drew Wufei aside.

"There's something you need to know," he said. "Something about the Order."

Of course, right then Duo popped up, the other two a few steps behind. "Are we keeping secrets again, Cattie?" he asked wryly.

Quatre blushed but Wufei shook his head. "No. If this is business of the Order, it is for all of us."

"Wufei," Quatre said a little urgently, "it's also about your family."

The firebender froze, his dark eyes widening slightly. But he shook his head again. "I have no family. Share your information openly."

So Quatre led the others into the small house they would share, sighing. He handed Wufei a piece of paper.

"This was sent to me by a contact in the Order. It went to my father rather than myself or I would have known long ago." He closed his eyes. "I'm sorry."

Wufei looked at the parchment as though he could burn it with just his gaze.

"What is it?" Heero asked, not coldly, but matter-of-factly.

"It is...from my uncle," Wufei said softly. "He died. He was murdered by the Black Lotus."

"No, he wasn't," Quatre said sadly. "It wasn't the Order of the Black Lotus. It was the Order of the _White_ Lotus."

"You mean the guys we worked for killed his uncle?" Duo sprang up, angrily. "Why? What for?"

"We had learned they were not all well-intentioned, but to murder..." Trowa's even voice was tight with fury.

"This is a letter from my uncle," Wufei said too softly. "He suggests that he knows he is going to die, and that I must find the correct path and follow it. He asks you," he looked at Quatre, "to do him a final favor as a member of the Order and teach me to..." he trailed off and crumpled the paper.

"What?" Heero asked.

"Nothing. It doesn't make sense."

"Wufei," Quatre said, reaching out to touch his arm, and not surprised when Wufei pulled away, "you know it wasn't me. You know I didn't have anything to do with this. And I would have told you if I had known. By the time that message arrived at Omashu, it was weeks too late."

"How can I trust _any_ of you?" Wufei turned on him, irate. "I extended the slightest trust to the Order, and I was already wary of their motives, and now I learn this! Who else is part of this madness?"

"No one," Heero said solidly. "We are not the Order. We are Gundams."

"You were Order once," he spat. "Perhaps I should not be a Gundam either, if this is the honor of those who consort with murderers!"

"Hey, if you can't tell the difference between _us_ and those _ratdogs_ ," Duo sneered, "you know where the door is! We don't need somebody who isn't going to be in this all the way with us!"

"Stop it!" Quatre's voice cut through the noise, startling them into silence. "We can't...we can't let ourselves be torn apart this way!"

"Quatre, you're wrong this time– " Wufei began.

" _No_." Quatre's eyes blazed and suddenly the very air was charged by the power of his focus and intensity. "No, you are going to listen to me _now_."

"Cat..." Duo tipped his head, face creasing in confusion.

"Sit down!" the yellow-haired fighter ordered in the same voice that always sent the Maganacs running to obey. A voice not made of polite smiles and gentle patience, but of steel and pain and unrelenting will. "Sit down and _listen_!"

After a surprised moment, all four did as commanded. Quatre's hands were clenched and his shoulders were taut. His eyes darted around rapidly before he ducked his head out of the shelter. They could hear him call for Rashid, who was only a few paces away.

"Clear the area. Nobody is to overhear and nobody comes anywhere near us until I give the all clear. Now _move_."

Through the thin walls, they could hear men scrambling to follow the sharp, unusually harsh orders. Quatre did not turn back to face the four of them until the sounds of people moving around had faded. He looked not at them, but beyond them.

"Quatre," Trowa said softly, "what...?"

"Two years before the coordinated full moon attack that began this," he interrupted as he stared through them, "you each began working with a different old man who claimed he represented the Order of the White Lotus. For some of you," he glanced towards Heero, "you took orders and asked no questions. For others," he tipped his head to Wufei, "it was a more reluctant alliance. But you all became part of this fight two years ago."

He finally pinned them with a burning gaze. "And you all did that because sometime before that, years before, something happened to you. You lost someone you cared about, or you witnessed our enemies in action. Something changed you forever and drove you to this fight. And now here we are."

Quatre closed his eyes and let out a sharp breath. "What you didn't know, what you _couldn't_ have known, was that whatever you experienced that brought you to that point was a setup. You were betrayed then as Wufei was betrayed now."

Their reactions were immediate. Wufei was on his feet, face contorted in rage. Duo instinctively reached for his weapons. Heero dug his fingers into the ground. Trowa went utterly still.

Quatre met Wufei's rage calmly and put a hand on his chest. "Sit down, Wufei," he said evenly.

"Explain. Now." The firebender found himself backing down, even as he stared at Quatre. The empath waited until Wufei was sitting again before he spoke.

"Fifteen years ago, the Avatar was killed. On that day, the world seemed to fracture irrevocably. But a few crazy members of the Order of the Black Lotus decided that things had gone too far. They switched sides, joined the White Lotus, and became known as the Five. They realized that not all might be lost. They, like few others alive today, knew where the Avatar came from originally. They knew the Avatar might be able to return under the right circumstances. And they decided to ensure those circumstances would come to pass."

"But how?" Duo asked.

"I'll tell you the long story of how the first Avatar came to be another day," Quatre answered. "What you need to know now is that the Five began searching the world for the key people they intended to use to bring the Avatar back. But they didn't care who they hurt to get there. They didn't care if they ruined lives or which side of the war between White and Black Lotus they helped if it gave them what they ultimately wanted. They believed that the return of the Avatar was worth anything, any cost, no matter the evil they would commit."

Quatre's eyes fixed themselves on Wufei. "They started with you. As you grew up, tested again and again to see if you were the Avatar, they watched and waited until they could be certain whether it was you or Meiran they needed. Once they knew it was you, they leaked your location to our enemies to ensure you would be attacked and your heart filled with rage."

"Why me and not her?" Wufei ground out through his teeth.

"Because by then they had identified Heero and knew they could pair you with him," Quatre answered, turning to the earthbender. "Your training with Master Odin brought you to their attention. Odin found out about their plans for you, though, and tried to protect you. But when he died, probably betrayed by them, you fell into their control again."

He turned to Duo and Trowa. "I don't actually know exactly how or when they found you. But Solo's death? They made sure he taught you enough before killing him so you would have no one to keep you from following their path, Duo. Trowa, I'm not sure how you were identified. Maybe it happened when you were a baby, maybe it wasn't until the very end. But if I had to guess, I'd say it was early, and it was why you never had a home."

Quatre clenched his hands even more tightly, pacing agitatedly. "They leaked information to the Black Lotus, or they arranged assassinations, or they cut you off from the families you should have had. They ruined your lives, all four of you, to make sure you'd play their little game. They arranged the pieces around you as if they were building a perfect pai sho board, with no care for the damage it would do you. And they did it all because of one evil belief they carried."

Now he stopped and stared at Heero, waiting. The earthbender raised his head, understanding.

"That our purpose was to die," Heero said flatly.

"Yes. Exactly. The Five believed they needed to find four benders, one of each element, who were close enough in age as well as skill, highly powerful, of a similar mind and spirit, and all working towards the same aim. They believed that if you all died at near the same moment, the Avatar would just be reborn from you like a spring shooting from a seed. But they're wrong!"

Here Quatre turned away, shaking. When he spoke, there was a shudder in his voice.

"They were so close to being right, but they missed the last piece. They thought they could bring the Avatar back to life using Wufei, who would have been the next Avatar if Yuy hadn't been killed in his cosmic state. They thought they just had to surround him with the right people, that it would just _happen_ as long as they could sort of stick him together with three other broken souls and kill them together. So they broke the rest of you to make sure your spirits would be equal parts pain and anger the way Wufei's was."

"Quatre," Trowa spoke up gently, "how do you know all this? How do you know what they wanted, and how do you know they're wrong?"

"I know what they wanted because I have been tracking them and their plans for a long time, even if I missed the worst of it until it was too late," he said wearily. "I know they're wrong because I just do. The Avatar was born of the elements in perfect harmony. Only perfect harmony can bring back another Avatar. Pain and suffering might draw the right souls together, but it isn't death that unites them. It's something much more important than that." Quatre didn't look up from where he hung his head.

"What aren't you telling us, Cat?" Duo's eyes narrowed.

Quatre sighed and dropped into a seated position, completing their circle.

"Those five members of the Order were partially right. But they didn't know that they were closer to the truth than they ever could have imagined. The future of the Avatar _is_ here."


	26. Dead When We Woke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It's going to happen tomorrow. Not just the Fire Nation, but the Earth Kingdom will attack too."
> 
> "So what are we going to do?"
> 
> "We're going to fight. We'll do whatever we have to. And in the end...it will be time for us to choose."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you are. I'm not sure it's what some of you expect. I hope you enjoy our new path. See some notes at the bottom for details.
> 
> It's Memorial Day Weekend in the US. I dedicate this chapter to all soldiers, those who made it home and those who never did. May you be ever honored and never forgotten.
> 
> Enjoy!

"The Avatar isn't a person anymore," Quatre said. "Or rather, he isn't _one_ person anymore."

"It's us," Heero said suddenly, understanding striking him like lightning. "We are the Avatar somehow."

"Yes," Quatre said heavily. "But not just the four of you. It's me, too."

"Spirit," Wufei's eyes widened. "Energybending. The last element. The Avatar isn't a master of four elements, but of five. There had to be five of us."

"And it isn't that we _could_ be the Avatar," Quatre continued. "We _are_ the Avatar. We are the Avatar Soul, splintered into five the way it was in the beginning."

He paused for a deep breath. "When Avatar Yuy died, all five of us came into this world, the five pieces of the Avatar Soul born in the same moment, fractured, but our potential and our connection remained. The Five brought you together because they thought you _might_ be able to forge a new Avatar between you because of your inherent similarities. They couldn't have known they had actually gathered the _true_ Avatar and that was _why_ you were so similar to one another. Or maybe they guessed it deep down, but they didn't care. And they still didn't care at all about their crimes against us. All they cared about was their goal."

"Wait," Duo said. "You're saying _we_ are the Avatar somehow, and that those Five Order guys, who had some kind of plan to make an Avatar out of us, just _happened_ to pull us together? How...I mean...what are the chances of that?"

"The universe is not without purpose. Or a sense of humor," Trowa said. "It would be much stranger if they had failed to find us. Assuming what Quatre says is actually true."

"It is." Quatre hung his head. "It is and I'm so sorry."

"But we don't have the same birthday," Wufei pointed out rationally. "If what you're saying is true, wouldn't we all necessarily have to have been born at the same time? Only I was born in the moment after the Avatar's death."

"Actually, we were – but nobody was searching for anyone but firebenders." Quatre ran a hand through his hair. "That's a story for a different time, though. It's…complicated. But I know that I was born the same dawn you were."

"And we," Heero gestured to himself, Duo, and Trowa, "don't know precisely when we were born for various reasons. So it's possible."

"But I still don't get it. What did those Five guys think they would do with us? How could they remake the Avatar?" Duo asked.

"They told Sifu Odin many years ago that he needed to train me to die," Heero answered. "That my purpose was to fight for the right cause and die for it, and that my death would bring peace. They didn't know I had overheard. Sifu Odin rejected them, but I never forgot."

"Death has always been our gift," Trowa said softly. "We kill easily, and we feel it every time. Maybe because we were born dead, the dead Avatar Yuy."

"It never should have happened this way," Quatre shook his head. "We did need to find each other, and we do need to bring back the Avatar, but not their way. You should never have believed your purpose was to die. I didn't know everything they had done until after Omashu. I didn't realize they had been interfering for so long or I...I don't know what I would have done, but I would have done _something_!"

"Quatre, how long have you known?" Wufei demanded, hands curling into fists.

"Known what I was, or known what was done to you?" he asked. At the firebender's glower, he sighed and lowered his eyes again. "I've known about being a part of the Avatar since I was a young child. I started having these really weird dreams and…well, it's another long story. And I knew each of you was a part of it from the moment I met you." Quatre looked back up. "Didn't you?"

At the silence that met his question, he leaned forward. "Didn't you know, as soon as you found one of us, that we fit together? That we made each other whole? You can't tell me you didn't feel it. I _know_ you did. I felt you finding yourselves in each of us."

"Yeah, okay, maybe when we met each other I was less likely to want to murder you all than average members of the population," Duo shrugged, "but Cat! Why didn't you tell us when we met instead of waiting?"

"Why doesn't anybody tell the Avatar their identity until they reach the age of sixteen?" Quatre replied a little heatedly. "Because it's too big. It's too much. It takes a lifetime for one person to get used to the idea and there are five of us. We'd only just started to trust each other. Would we really have come this far together if I'd told you everything when we first came together after Republic City?"

"But Quatre," Trowa said very softly, "you knew. If you'd told us, we could have managed it together. Who was there to help you get used to the idea?"

"Weeks ago we said 'never alone,' that we would be united as Gundams," Heero added. "You kept yourself alone by not telling us."

"Maybe," he conceded. "I won't lie and say it's been easy carrying this on my own my whole life. But it wasn't about me. It was about _us_." Quatre's eyes flashed. "The Black Lotus did everything in their power to destroy us forever, put a void in our hearts where light should have been. And then your supposed _allies_ took advantage of that void to ruin your lives in a misguided attempt to command what was never theirs to control. We have a duty not just to save the world _now_ , but to save it together by ensuring we are reborn as the Avatar. We can only do that if we achieve true harmony of spirit. I couldn't let anything get in the way of that. Even if it meant keeping myself apart for a while longer."

"Wait, so does this mean you're secretly a bender, too?" Duo asked. "I always thought you should be a waterbender, Cat. You've got the heart for it, more than I do, even."

"Um, no, I'm not a waterbender," Quatre shook his head. "But Wufei is right. My empathy is kind of a side effect of being an energybender, although I've rarely really needed to use it. And I'm more aware than the average person of the spirit world, I guess…"

"It was _you_ ," Heero's eyes widened slightly in realization. "You were the one who summoned the pain spirit in Omashu. It wasn't just drawn to you. You called it into the world in your madness and grief. You unbalanced the spirit world with your powers."

"Yes."

"How many secrets have you been keeping?" Wufei looked ready to throw up his hands. "For the person who talked so passionately about trust, you have certainly behaved most dishonorably, Quatre."

"I know. And I'm sorry."

"You keep saying that," Trowa pointed out. "Why are you sorry?"

"Because I lied to you all," Quatre met their eyes. "Because I manipulated you just like they did to make sure we would all come together in the end. Because I have known for most of my life that somewhere out there were the other four parts of my soul, but I didn't come to find you until you had been put through so much pain and suffering. Because I didn't know until it was too late that men with no idea about the truth of the Avatar Soul had primed you all for death instead of hope."

"What could you have done, though?" Duo wanted to know. "You were just a kid."

"My father has been a Grand Lotus of the Order for many years," Quatre said, "and I became one myself two years ago. All the evidence was there that those five members had gone off on their own, and no one noticed. I became a Grand Lotus to ensure I could keep myself informed, and to find you, and I wound up keeping an eye on them. But I should have stepped in at once. In the last two years, they've done nothing but throw you at training and missions they hoped would warp you and eventually kill you."

"What could you have done, though?" Wufei asked again.

"And aren't you a bit young to be a Grand Lotus?" Heero added.

"Youngest ever," Quatre nodded with a tiny flash of pride. "By about thirty years. And what could I have done? I could have come for you myself, found you, given you a place to train and learn and get used to one another away from the war and away from the influence of men who just wanted to see us die. I could have _protected_ you."

"Then protect us now," Trowa caught his gaze and held it. "Tell us the truth that no one ever gave us before. Give us what what was taken from us."

"You already gave us a better purpose," Duo said gently. "Trowa's right. Give us what was taken from us at birth and we'll call it even."

"I can do that."

And just like that, it was as if the wind had changed direction, or the tides had turned, or the kindling had picked up a true flame, or the rocks had settled. If asked a day before, none of the four elemental benders would ever have believed they could each be one-fifth of the Avatar. But now, with Quatre's words in the open, it was more than knowing it was the truth; somehow, strangely, all four of them began to share in what Quatre had felt his whole life – that it had _always_ been true. The surprise of it was gone in a wash of rightness that left no room for doubt or uncertainty or wonder. The fact of their true nature had simply _become_.

As the feeling settled around them, it made Quatre's deception all the sharper in relief.

"So that means no more lying, not to us, anyway," Trowa smirked to soften the statement, but his eyes spoke to his seriousness. "It doesn't suit you."

"Don't ever assume that I'm innately honest. Being on the right side and being truthful are very different things. I'm probably the least innately honest person of the five of us," Quatre shrugged. "But point taken. I'll try not to keep things from you anymore."

"Then here is your chance," Wufei passed over the piece of paper from his uncle. "What in the name of all the cosmos does he mean by this?"

Quatre read it aloud. " _I have come to believe my nephew is but a mushroom in the dark. May you guide him to sunlight_."

"Mushroom?" Heero and Trowa said simultaneously. They exchanged glances. Both were remembering an odd half-dream from a dark place where they had been lost.

"Like, things that you eat or that are poisonous if you can't tell them apart?" Duo asked, suddenly impish. "Is he saying Wufei's poisonous? 'Cause – "

"No," Quatre shook his head, fighting a smile. "It's...it's an image I used to meditate on. You know how mushrooms work, right? They can pop up out of the ground in different places, but they're all part of the same organism. It's one giant whole thing, hidden from sight, where only the tendrils are visible on the surface. You have to look deep to see the connection."

"The Avatar," Wufei's eyes widened. "He knew somehow."

"I guess so," Quatre said. "I only ever told my teacher about the image I used for meditation, but it wouldn't surprise me, if your uncle was anything like you, Wufei, that they might have known one another."

A long silence fell, each lost in their thoughts. At last Heero spoke.

"So, now what?"

"Now," Trowa said, "we get ready for a war."

"And we make some kind of plan to beat most of the armies in the world and protect Republic City." Duo looked around the circle and smiled the kind of smile that anyone else almost never saw and the Gundams had seen only rarely – the one that reached his eyes.

"Is it me," he asked, "or does everybody else suddenly feel better about this whole mess?"

"How so?" Wufei asked. "Our odds are not improved at all from what they were before."

"No," Quatre smiled too. "But _we_ will be."

-==OOO==-

Quinze made his way down the familiar path. The earth this far down was very damp and the air smelled wet. Droplets trickled down the walls of the tunnel and plopped with a rhythmic cadence in puddles and rivulets. The only light was from the single lantern he carried, sputtering wetly in the darkness. His boots caught in the muddy earth, but he had walked the tunnel so many times in the last weeks and months he never even faltered.

"Sir!" a man saluted as he reached a sharp bend in the path. Quinze looked over the man critically – an earthbender, probably recruited years ago to the cause. Certainly not one of the undisciplined, overexcited newcomers to their work.

"Are they here?"

"Yes, sir."

"Go back up the tunnel until you cannot hear," Quinze ordered. "Remain there and listen for any interlopers who might try to reach us some other way."

"Yes, sir!" he saluted again and strode off.

Quinze made the turn and passed through an archway divided from the rest of the dark tunnel by only a thick, dark cloth. The cloth was necessary for those who were not actually earthbenders. "Or waterbenders," Quinze thought to himself with a sinister smile, "given how wet it is down here."

Within, there was a rough wooden table and eight chairs. Seven were occupied.

"Quinze, where are we?" demanded the most cuttingly rude of the legendary Five Blacks, wrinkling his significant nose. "You're keeping secrets again."

"And we do not appreciate it," the nominal leader of the Five crossed his arms, eyes hidden behind his odd lenses.

"Patience, gentlemen," Quinze raised his hands as he moved to his own seat. Where the Five – and to this day Quinze had never been able to discover their real names, so he was forced to refer to them thusly – were frowning or outright scowling, Septum looked merely bemused. At the last seat, a young woman with startlingly pale hair had a slight smile on her face. Before he could go on, she spoke.

"While I find these surroundings distasteful myself, you must admit, there was no other way to get so close to Republic City, and Quinze could hardly leave and expect to return without detection. I believe Quinze's caution in keeping his secrets seems to be valuable."

"Forgive us, Princess Dorothy," sneered the tallest of the Five, "but you are new to these proceedings. Even your father is ignorant of much. You know _nothing_ of what is valuable to us."

"Then educate me," she challenged.

"Oh, stop goading her," Septum frowned. "Quinze, you called this meeting. What do you want? Some of us are busy preparing for a war."

"Tomorrow will begin the greatest conflict since The Fire Lord's War nearly two-hundred years ago," Quinze said. "I felt it prudent we confirm our goals before all is thrown into chaos."

"You pulled me away from my work for an _update_?" Septum's face flushed red. "Send a bird next time, you fool! I have more to do than you can imagine! When was the last time you attempted to steal an entire army out from under the command of their king and general?"

"If you would sit down and _listen_ ," Quinze narrowed his eyes, "you might learn something."

"Good luck with that," muttered the black-haired of the Five, just loud enough to be heard. Septum's face got even redder.

"There is a new development," Quinze ignored him. "The Gundams are here, and intent on defending Republic City. They have already interfered with a group I was bringing in to assault the Council and the Peacecraft, greatly weakening my forces within the city. They are formidable."

"What is your plan?" the fifth of the Five asked.

"I cannot anticipate their movements," Quinze said, "but I expect you," he looked over at Dorothy, "should be aware of them. They may attempt to eliminate the Fire Lord directly."

"Really?" Dorothy's eyes widened in mock surprise. "Who would imagine such a thing?"

"These Gundams are the five fighters who have wrought such chaos in our plans thus far?" Septum asked. He considered for a moment, then said, "Is there any chance we can blame them for the Earth Kingdom's attack on the city?"

"Unlikely," replied the long-nosed member of the Five. "They may be formidable benders, but none is very powerful, and even together they are of limited usefulness. The people would never believe five individuals could be behind so much. I suggest you find and eliminate them as quickly as you can."

"In fact," said the fourth, "if we can find them, it would serve our interests very well to kill them all."

"I have heard the stories of these 'Gundams' and I am not impressed. If they are a problem for our plans, I will confront them myself. Even if they are twice what I have been told, I'm sure they will die when they face me," Dorothy commented, "but I do wish to know – why do you fear them so?" She looked straight at Quinze and smiled dangerously.

"I do not fear them, or you for that matter," he answered her calmly. "If you wish to prove your value to the Order by eliminating the Gundams yourself, you certainly may. I have other duties."

"And what are those?" the third of the Five asked.

"You don't know?" Septum was surprised.

"You do?" the leader of the Five was even more surprised.

"The Order of the Black Lotus has always sought to restore the balance of days past," Quinze said with a small smile on his face, "and also to destroy our enemies utterly without mercy, of course. Only when there is a Fire Nation and an Earth Kingdom and those Water Tribes, and _no_ other voices of disunity will the world be able to separate at last. The aftermath of The Fire Lord's War should have proved that dragons cannot live beside rabbits. Like when Avatar Kyoshi broke her homeland from the mainland to protect her people from danger, so we must break apart what others would force together unnaturally.

"And to that end," he looked up with a completely neutral expression, "I have prepared a final blow. Call it a fallback plan."

"We will not fail," Septum snorted. "Republic City cannot stand against the combined might of the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom, no matter how many pitiful waterbenders and riffraff come to defend it. The city will fall."

"Yes," Quinze said coldly, "Republic City _will_ fall, and with it, the foolishness that ever necessitated this war in the first place. One way or another, it ends tomorrow."

-==OOO==-

"More news?" Duo looked over Quatre's shoulder casually, refusing to let his eyes boggle at the sheer number of scrolls and parchments and tiny scraps that had come in by all of their five hawks, Kai, and about eighteen others even throughout the night.

"Lots of it," Quatre nodded. "It's going to happen tomorrow. Not just the Fire Nation, but the Earth Kingdom will attack too. It's been confirmed that Zechs doesn't have command right now, even if he has the loyalty of his troops. Septum will send his people against us and we'll be outnumbered."

"That's not good," Trowa said.

"Actually, it is good," Quatre closed his eyes. "In a sense, anyway. I'd rather know what is happening than have to guess. We know Quinze is involved, even if I can't get any information on his movements. We know Septum's basic tactics, and we know the Fire Nation is also acting with the Black Lotus. From this, we can plan."

"So what are we going to do?" Wufei refused to look as if he hadn't seen whatever Quatre did in the outline of their situation.

"We're going to fight," Quatre said. "We'll handle our opponents as we must, and we'll clear the board until the evils against us are no longer in play. And then," he looked up with an unreadable expression, "…and then it will be time to choose."

-==OOO==-

"Relena, I'd like you to meet Sally," Noin put a hand on her old friend's shoulder. "She's a waterbender and a leader among the Tribes."

"Thank you for coming to our aid," Relena bowed. "Though I wish with all my heart it was not necessary."

"You and me both, Peacecraft," Sally bowed as well. "But as it stands, the Tribes have pretty strong feelings about all this. After all, we're three nations and one people, and it's always worked for us to give each other the space to sail with the sea rather than remain locked in stone. What we fight for is not just the safety of Republic City and the United Republic, but the very freedom to trust that defines my people."

Relena smiled. She could see why Noin liked the braided waterbender.

"I'm glad," Sally looked to Noin, "that my fears we would be on opposite sides are unfounded. I don't envy you, though," and she glanced down. "I know. About what Zechs will have to do and why."

"You do?" Relena was surprised.

"The whole Order knows," came another voice. Lady Une strode into the room. Or, she tried to. She had to lean on a staff, and her steps were unsteady. "There is a Grand Lotus who has broken all the ties of secrecy and sent virtually everything to everyone. Not just information on our Black Lotus opponents, but everyone."

"Who would do that?" Noin asked. "The Order always struck me as more stubborn and horsepig-headed than the Earth Kingdom's nobility."

"They are," Sally smiled. "That's why the Grand Lotus opening the walls to the air isn't part of them anymore. He's a Gundam."

"Heero?" Relena asked. Sally shook her head.

"No, though I've heard of the earthbender, too. It doesn't matter. The Gundams aren't acting independently anymore, if you'll excuse the pun. They have their own goal, and one they haven't yet revealed."

"It's just as well," Une said, her voice only a little strained. "If they were to share their plans, they would certainly fail. Not all members of the Order of the White Lotus can be trusted."

"Well, this one can be," Noin gestured to Sally.

"Order or not, I'm a healer first," Sally's eyes narrowed, "and as a healer, I'm ordering you to sit down and let me take a look."

Une started to argue, but Noin actually grabbed her elbow. "Don't. Don't fight us." At the firebender's astonished look, she sighed. "Tomorrow the world will crack into pieces. If things fall apart, we're going to need you here and healthy to help us. Sally didn't come just to serve as an emissary from the Water Tribes, and you're not just here because you're Fire Nation."

"Noin?" Relena's brow was furrowed in confusion. The earthbender smiled grimly.

"If Republic City falls tomorrow, the only hope for peace is you, Relena, and the three of us. We have no Avatar to guide our world, so a Peacecraft and three benders will have to be enough. Tomorrow we stay together, no matter what happens, and we protect one another."

Sally nodded and guided Une to a chair. "Even if the Black Lotus is defeated tomorrow, we will still need one another. The problem of a battle isn't the fighting, but the aftermath. I'll be busy as a healer, but we will _all_ be needed to heal the wounds of the world's hearts, too."

-==OOO==-

The Gundams stood alone on a plateau looking down on the chosen battlefield before dawn's first light. The armies would meet on the fields and plains on the north and east side of the ridge that was the backdrop of Republic City. From this vantage point at the top of the plateau, they could see the fortifications from the Earth Kingdom, the naval armada nearing the peninsulas from the Fire Nation, and the forces of the United Republic of Nations as well as the Water Tribes moving to meet both. Halfway down the ridge, the Maganac forces waited.

"It all comes to this," Wufei said, crossing his arms. "We must fight to ensure peace."

"Contradiction is the way of humanity," Trowa intoned. "The Air Nomads teach that when we try to hold onto everything, we lose everything."

"We're gonna lose all right," Duo spoke lowly. "I mean, we'll win the fight because we _have_ to. But people are going to die for no good reason except that a couple of cranky guys can't just let go and give somebody else some freedom. Strong people stomping on the weak and they all die for it."

"Strong people make weak people," Heero said, staring straight ahead. "Just like peace makes war. And we're stupid enough to be caught up in it ourselves."

"Hey, if we weren't stupid, we wouldn't be soldiers. And if we're fighting, we've still got a chance to set things right," Duo punched him in the shoulder lightly.

"This isn't just a battle," Quatre spoke up. "This is a choice being made by all of humanity for how the world is going to look tomorrow and in a hundred years. What we do here today is going to realign the world either way. Which is why we can't fail. We're not fighting for the independents _or_ Republic City _or_ the Old Four. We're fighting for the people who have to live with whoever wins today."

"Exactly," Wufei nodded. "The war we fight is not nation and nation, but human heart and soul."

"Then we shouldn't keep them waiting. When the time comes to act, you have to step forward." Trowa looked at the others and breathed out once. A rush of warm air surrounded them, a nearly perceptible embrace.

The five stared steadily at one another for a long, silent moment. There was so much they could not say.

"All right," Quatre said decisively, looking at each of the others as though he could never look long enough. "Remember to watch for the signals. And keep to the plan as much as you can."

In one motion, perfect synchronization, the five of them donned their masks for, they hoped, the last time.

Quatre whistled once, high and bright, and Sandrock alighted on his shoulder. He reached into the pouch that hung in the center of his lower-back, just below where his two shotels crossed. From it, he drew a long orange streamer which he affixed to the hawk's message-carrier. When he tossed the bird back into the air, the streamer flew behind him brightly, clear against the blue sky.

Heero stamped his heel into the ground and twisted, causing the soft earth to rise up and wrap itself around the feet of all five of them, securing them in place. Then he lifted his hands and pushed forward. The outcropping on which they stood broke free of its position and began sliding down the rock face towards the battlefield.

Trowa twisted his arms and the cocoon of air around them sharpened until it was a veritable shield, keeping them warm and the space around them still as they picked up speed.

"Have fun teaching Treize a lesson about what real fire feels like," Duo tipped his head to Wufei. "And Heero, make sure you stomp all over that pretty-boy Earth Kingdom general. The two of them are worse than the Orders if you ask me. They aren't fighting because they believe in it. They're fighting because somebody told them to, and Zechs probably doesn't even want to."

"I can understand their position, and the orders they likely have been given," Wufei commented, "but that does not make it honorable or right. Do not they also deserve the freedom to choose when their orders are wrong?"

"So let's lay the whole debate to rest," Trowa nodded.

To either side, as they rushed down the steep hill, the Maganacs had spotted Sandrock's signal and were beginning their own charges as well, shouting as they did so. The war machines of the Fire Nation had just crossed the final rise and were close enough for the most skilled firebenders to begin kicking blasts of flame at them. The independent ground troops were already moving to crash into their lines.

"Heero," Quatre's voice was quiet. The earthbender paused in his bending long enough to turn to him. "Remember your promise. Our promise. Never alone. It's not our time to die yet. We have a lifetime to be together. Don't give in, and don't let go no matter what. Not yet."

"Never alone, Quatre," he replied gently, and though they could not see his face, they heard in his words the truth of them. "I promise. I know now that death is not my only fate."

Quatre nodded sharply and drew his shotels. He bent his head to them just once, to whisper something none of the others could hear, before straightening up.

"For freedom," he said, not shouting, but with real passion. "And for balance and peace. But most of all, for _tomorrow_!"

And their forces reached the first wave of attackers as the battle began in earnest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I've had a few questions about whether this relates to the history of the Avatar from Legend of Korra. As I said in the very beginning of this story, I've never watched Korra, although I did follow its development. But I had written this whole idea out before that storyline ever even began in Korra – in a sense, my Avatar mythology came first. So this is truly an AU now, not that it wasn't really to start with.
> 
> I hope this all made sense to you. It was always what I had in mind, from the very moment I conceived of the plot way back when I was still working on "The Silken Cord." I always intended, as I did a bit there, to make the five Gundams into one whole greater than the sum of its parts. I hope my explanation of the Avatar here makes sense in the context of what you have read so far, but more importantly, I hope it also came as a surprise. I have to admit, I've never ever, in 10 years of publishing fanfic, been as nervous about a twist as I am about revealing this one. I hope it went okay.
> 
> Also, I'll tell you right now one scene nobody has to claim for one of their oneshot awards from earlier this year: I've already determined to write a "The Ember Island Players Present"-type story where our intrepid troupe of actors perform the true origin of the Avatar as I have determined it. I'm still figuring out if I want the story to take the form of an actual script (with scribbled commentary from our boys, of course), or if it should be more along the lines of the A:TLA episode with the boys actually watching the production. But it'll happen. And Quatre will be appalled, and he'll fix everything they get wrong, as it should be.
> 
> From this point, there aren't a lot of good stopping places until the end. I may wimp out and post chapters haphazardly in my guilt at leaving things unresolved for you. I hope the ride continues to be worth the wait.
> 
> Your feedback has kept me going. I hope you feel rewarded for all that kindness. You guys are the best fans ever!


	27. What Is Done Cannot Be Undone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Gundams march to war.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love all of you – those I surprised, those who saw my previous chapter coming from the beginning, and those who were suspicious but unsure. I love all of the reviews and comments I've gotten on both sites. You all are amazing and you gave me some wonderful, wonderful affirmation right when I needed it. I hope this chapter keeps up the fierce interest the last chapter seemed to ignite!
> 
> One important note – our wonderful Miranda Shadowind has created another piece of fanart connected to this story. You can find it on DeviantArt called "Parallel Universe: Clash of the Warriors." It depicts an encounter between one of her OC twins and Wufei the firebender. Make sure you check it out!
> 
> Onto the battle for the world! Enjoy!

When they hit the level field that would be the terrain of the battle, Heero brought them to a halt behind the lines of the Republic forces, in the shelter of one of the borrowed Mechanists' metallic defensive war machines. He flicked a gesture at the ground and the earth released its hold on their feet. Duo stretched languidly.

"Well, I'm off to find a traitor," he grinned perfectly evilly, and the mask didn't conceal his glee one bit. "Anybody want to wish Septum good luck against me?"

"Definitely not," Heero shook his head. "Just get back here as fast as you can."

"Hey, I've got, what, three Black Lotus commanders to find? And I don't even know who one of 'em is. Speed ain't first on my mind."

"Just go," Trowa said. Then, with a huff of laughter, "I bet I can get our Five old friends before you get your three commanders."

"You're on!"

"And you?" Wufei turned to Quatre. "Treize and Zechs are accounted for, as are the Black Lotus commanders and our Five betrayers. Where will you be?"

"I'll be where I'm needed," he said vaguely. The other four exchanged glances. They knew he had a plan for himself, they _knew_ it, but not actually being aware of the details of it was more than uncomfortable, especially as they all would be heading off in separate directions and leaving him on his own. Then Quatre spread his arms and saluted them with his shotels. "Be safe, all of you. Watch for the signals." And he strode off into the gathering crowd of Maganacs.

"He gonna be okay with everything?" Duo asked, and he waved an arm that suggested his worry had to do with Quatre's lack of bending more than anything else.

"He will if we hurry," Trowa replied, nodding once to the rest and turning. A sweep of his arms and he was gracefully leaping high above the battle, dancing like a leaf on the wind as he sped off.

"Right," Heero dropped into a crouch, bending his head down to listen. Then he sprang up on a tower of earth that gave him a view of the whole field. He glanced back down to Wufei and Duo for one moment before stamping and punching forward, giving himself a solid disc of earth to carry him to where he sensed Zechs waiting.

"Our hopes hang on you," Wufei looked at Duo's unagi mask, its grinning visage a match for the wild spirit contained within. "Septum must be removed and quickly if we are to end this battle before too many lives are lost. The other Black Lotus Grand Masters are more dangerous, but only Septum commands the Earth Kingdom army. You must stop him first and foremost."

"I won't fail you. I won't fail any of you," Duo replied solidly.

"I believe you." Wufei held out a hand and Duo grasped it. There it was, that flash of the Avatar meeting between them, oddly enhanced because of the opposite nature of their elements, and they both tightened the grip for a moment before releasing. It was astonishing that they had never noticed it before, but then, they had rarely ever had cause to touch. Now, where Wufei would have shied away from the contact, he found himself steadied by it.

"See ya!" Duo shouted cheerfully. He dashed into the fray.

Wufei stood alone for a moment, thinking of the other four, of what they might face. If any of them died today, everything they had gone through, everything Meiran had died for, everything the world needed would be lost. The battle had to end before it claimed their lives.

While Duo eliminating Septum might bring the Earth Kingdom army under the control of more honorable forces, the Fire Nation would bend only to Treize or the Fire Lord himself. If Duo succeeded and Wufei did not get the Fire Nation prince to withdraw, to say nothing of defeating Dermail, it would be as much a failure as if they had never interfered at all. Wufei would never _ever_ let that happen. He would defeat Treize and force the man's surrender as well as his father's, and death was _not_ an option.

He centered himself and set off for his own battle.

-==OOO==-

No one had slept much that night, so when the bright hawk Wing appeared, refusing to be settled by any other than Relena, Noin, Une, and Sally were all roused in moments. Relena opened the message with calm hands, though her heart pounded. She read it aloud.

> " _The Gundams have chosen a course of action. We will help to defend Republic City, but that is not our primary objective. We seek to eliminate the forces that have manipulated the world to reach this point, forces in both the Order of the Black Lotus and the Order of the White Lotus. We fight not for the sake of peace or war, but for the sake of the freedom to choose without the machinations of outside powers. To that end we side with the United Republic and its allies. When our own objectives have been completed, if the war continues, we will end it ourselves._ "

"The freedom to choose?" Relena looked up. "What do they mean?"

"After the death of Avatar Yuy," Sally explained, "many of the peoples who had been working towards independence were silenced. They were afraid of the Order of the Black Lotus, and they were afraid of the Old Four. They were afraid of a world with no Avatar where they would face many unknowns. Those who might have tried for independence fifteen years ago gave up and their courage failed them."

"That's why they fight today," Noin said. "Those warriors and benders from around the world, they still feel the shame of allowing themselves to be defeated by fear. It's why they were so eager to come here."

"This is the final test General Treize has waited for," Une said. "Relena Peacecraft, you know well that Treize wants to see the people of this world rise up to claim their fate, but he fears they will never succeed, never overcome their own weakness. That is why he fights on the side of the Fire Lord today – not to make war on you or your people, but to force them to confront this choice themselves."

"You're saying Prince Treize is going to attack us just to see if people will defend themselves instead of surrendering?" Noin asked, brow narrowing.

Relena had drifted away as Noin spoke to go to the window. The Council of Republic City as well as some of the representatives of their allies and members of the Republic had retreated to a better-fortified building away from the center of the city, where they could not only see out into the bay more clearly, but they had an escape route waiting for them under the mountain if they needed it. As the first light of dawn began to shine on the ocean, Relena could see the Fire Nation navy moving into position to attack the protective rings of Water Tribe ships already in place.

"This war was always inevitable," Une was saying. "Too many people carry too much animosity rooted in cowardice. Even though the only ones who truly wish a war are the Black Lotus, all the people of the world raced to this outcome together, even though almost all of them wish it were not so."

"This is pointless!" Relena spun away from the window angrily, facing the women before her. "People are going to die for something we _all_ think is wrong!"

"But if they do not die, will the others think it is so wrong?" Lady Une asked. "Will those who stirred up the fire of fear and hate understand their own fear unless they are confronted with it? General Treize intends to show it to them, to all humanity. If they cannot learn this lesson, they do not deserve life."

"That is so self-serving, it's disgusting!" Noin argued. "It's because of people like the Black Lotus that they're afraid to begin with. And fear is what drove the independents here."

"Not to mention the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom," Sally said. "We're all afraid of the future. Which is why it shouldn't be in our hands."

"Even my br—Zechs is preparing to kill people to prove that killing is wrong," Relena's eyes flashed with anger and pain, though she caught herself in time. "But someday the cycle has to stop or there will be no one left!"

"If the Gundams can eliminate the Black Lotus leaders, then this battle can truly end and we can work towards peace together," Lady Une conceded, "because even General Treize will stand down when those who give the order to kill recant and the tide of the battle turns. If the Gundams succeed, the war will be over and we will all walk towards peace together. If they fail, the battle will continue, but the war will be won by one side or the other and we will all walk towards a different future in which one side has been defeated."

"That's what you want?" Noin demanded. "You want those boys to solve your problems for you? And if they don't, this will be the worst single battle in history, including everything from The Fire Lord's War. How can you just stand there and not care what happens to all those people out there, the people in Republic City, people of your own nation even?"

"Noin," Sally put a restraining hand on her shoulder. "Une's not callous. She doesn't want them to die either. But she's decided to trust the Gundams. If anybody can stop this, can unite people read to die and kill, it's them. And I think she's right about that. My people have chosen to trust the Gundams to find the way. They have chosen to trust Relena and the hope of this city. We have to do the same."

Relena swallowed tightly.

"And what happens if this war doesn't show the world the truth of its fear and mistrust?" she asked. "What happens if the people do not find their courage?"

"Then," Une closed her eyes and there was a profound grief on her face, "there is no hope for any future at all."

-==OOO==-

Heero approached the Earth Kingdom lines without hesitation, in spite of the fact that the moment he was in range they began launching boulders at him. He eyed the arranged forces and almost smirked – Zechs had not been idle. From the information Quatre had acquired, he knew that Secretariat Septum had assumed command of the army, but also that Septum was not a warrior. Zechs might not be able to keep the Earth Kingdom forces from launching an attack against the wrong target, but he had certainly arranged things to keep them from doing it _well_. The formations were highly defensive, perfectly suited to containing the army and shielding against any threat, but they would be hard-pressed to move against an enemy with any kind of speed. Even if every soldier started running now, by the time they dug out their fortifications and stopped tripping over one another, it would be sundown before they reached the cliffs guarding Republic City.

Heero took it all in with a single glance before he stopped just out of range of the attacks and landed. The stone on which he had come he raised into the air. With a slash of his hands, he cut it into a new and clear formation, a literal sign in the sky.

The attacks ceased almost at once, but it was a long stretch before a single figure walked out alone from the Earth Kingdom forces. The morning sunlight glinted off Zech's mask and his white hair flowed around him like a luminous cape.

"You challenge me?" he asked, nodding at where Heero had kept the ancient sigil hanging in the air above him.

"Yes."

"Why?"

Heero let his earth sense tell him that they were alone before he answered. "You and I will not settle anything by fighting one another," he said. "But I can't let you or your army enter the battle. When we are finished, the landscape will be different, and you will have a role to play that is better suited to what we both seek."

Zechs stilled as he thought the words over. He could practically feel the earth singing the young man's meaning, his plan, his intent. "You could die," he said after a moment. "I could kill you and you would not live to see this changed landscape."

"I won't," Heero replied. "I promised."

"So did I," Zechs said.

"Tell your forces to stay back while we fight," Heero dropped the sigil from the sky. "Tell them to wait, to stand as witness. No matter what commands they receive, they won't want to miss this."

"I already gave that order," Zechs allowed himself to smile. Having only spoken to the boy once, already they understood one another so well. "We have our audience. All eyes will be on us, and none elsewhere. Nor will any soldier move for as long as we battle here."

"Good." Heero nodded sharply once. He settled into a rooted stance and breathed out. "Zechs." Even through two masks, their eyes met. "The earth tells me I have a future. Even if you defeat me, I won't let you destroy that."

And they began.

-==OOO==-

"Master Quatre," Rashid greeted the masked figure. "This is the man you sent me to find."

"It's good to meet you finally, Howard," Quatre said warmly. He lifted his mask to smile politely. "Duo told me to tell you, um, 'thanks for not being late this time' and 'pretty good for an old guy,' I think."

Howard, out of place in a very bright pink tunic that made his greyish hair seem even paler by comparison, grinned. "Duo's a scoundrel. But if he vouches for you, that's good enough for me. Glad to see the kid's got some real friends now."

"Master," Rashid stepped to Quatre's elbow. "We are nearly prepared."

"Excellent," Quatre nodded sharply. He began to move towards the tall tower set up behind the Mechanist equipment, Rashid and Howard following. "Duo said you could help me keep an eye on the battlefield."

"Yup. We've got a lot of nifty stuff set up for you." He looked sharply at the yellow-haired fighter. "What do you need it for, though? Duo didn't say and asking him a question like that is just asking for an insult."

"I'm not trying to command this battle, not exactly," Quatre answered as they started up the tower's steps. "But there are parts of it I have to guide. There are others relying on me for signals. I have to be in place and well-informed to provide them."

At the top of the tower, Howard explained the many mechanical devices he and his people had brought with them. Quatre's eyes widened in wonder at the technology hidden from the world, his mind racing with its possibilities, but he said nothing. Instead, he directed the Mechanists to set up a surveillance of the entire area, from the naval battle in the sea out to where the last edges of the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom ground forces waited for their chance to fight. Between his maps, the outpouring of information from every angle, and Quatre's own empathic ability to read the area, he quickly gathered a complete picture of the whole battle.

"Rashid," Quatre said after a moment of total stillness while his mind weaved through the scenario to pick out a pattern and a workable solution, "take the Maganacs to where the Republic City guard is forming up against the Fire Nation. The Earth Kingdom isn't our primary concern yet. Make sure the Fire Nation doesn't get around the guards on the far side and to the pass."

Rashid saluted sharply and dashed off. Quatre moved away from his maps and to the broad open window where he threw out an arm for Sandrock. The hawk's eyes were very bright.

"It comes down to you for this, my friend," Quatre said as he pulled off the orange streamer that had signaled to the Mechanists and Maganacs that their plan was in motion. "You're the only one I am absolutely sure can find them. Be careful. We will fail if you cannot lead the way."

-==OOO==-

Trowa had taken to the sky with Triton, high above the battlefield. He had no way of knowing where his targets were hiding, but Quatre had assured him he would be able to find them. He'd circled a few times, but it wasn't until Sandrock appeared bearing a bright yellow streamer that he understood. Somehow Trowa was not surprised Quatre's hawk had had cause to meet at least one of the Five in person and could therefore locate him again. Without that bit of knowledge, he might never have completed his own mission.

Trowa nodded sharply to the bird as it gave a proud cry. He sent Triton after the hawk, not caught completely off-guard when he ducked straight into the city; Quatre had anticipated that the Five would want to be on hand for this pivotal moment. What did surprise Trowa was that the Five were actually standing on a rooftop as if they were waiting for him not far from the center of the city. He sent Triton off and dropped, landing with a gust of air as cold as the feelings in his heart.

"No-Name," greeted one of the Five, the tallest. "We expected Soldier."

"I feel a little hurt, actually," the one with the odd spectacles smiled darkly. "To think that we are so low a priority to warrant the airbender out of the four."

"Five," Trowa corrected automatically. "There are five of us."

"Yes, so we've heard," said the long-nosed one. "That fifth Gundam was unexpected. We did not anticipate you would band together on your own, nor that you would ever actually have access to information from the Order. You four were trained to obey and fight and die, not to _understand_."

"We _don't_ understand," Trowa returned. "We don't understand you at all. You brought war, you have killed, you fed the power of the Black Lotus, and for _what_?"

"To restore balance," the fourth said. "To burn down a collapsing building before its crash to the ground destroyed the very foundations of the land. We had no choice but to bring things to chaos to recreate order."

"That order was maintained by the Avatar," Trowa said.

"Yes, exactly," that was the fifth.

"Then why did you do it?" he asked angrily. "Why did the Black Lotus kill the Avatar?"

"That wasn't actually _our_ plan," replied the spectacled one with clear annoyance. " _We_ wanted to break the world back into its original nations, and get the Air Nomads to form a real nation that could encompass those who wanted out from Fire and Earth control. The freedom of the Nomads should have appealed to those foolish independents."

"When the world is four nations based on the elements, it's more stable," added the tall one. "The would-be conquerors are easier to manage when they rise up, and except in the case of The Fire Lord's War, most of those have come from within one nation and got handled by that nation before their madness spread."

"And then the benders are easier to control," the second said.

Trowa searched his memory for the name for those people who despised benders being in control. It was a group that had briefly caused some trouble for a past Avatar. "You're…Equalists?"

"Only by necessity," answered the fourth. "Though it is true the benders seem to start most wars and leave it to non-benders to survive them. No, we needed to _ensure_ balance, and a square balances. Some amorphous shape of dozens of nations will always result in an imbalance and thus more war."

"But you must remember," the fifth said, "the Black Lotus then as now was a very fractured group. Ask ten different members their goals and you would get ten different answers. We might have been influential and in control to a certain extent, but even we could not keep the Order together among people who wanted completely different things."

"Some of them were _crazy_ ," the first shook his head ruefully. "Eventually the Avatar might have been convinced that the path of independence would only lead to more conflict, as per the conflict that was erupting all over the world at the time."

"Violence _you_ started," Trowa pointed out.

"Well, yes." The second smirked.

"Had we not convinced Avatar Yuy, we could always have killed him later and given ourselves close to twenty years before having to deal with the next Avatar." The fourth closed his eyes. "Ending the Avatar completely was _never_ our goal. We _needed_ an Avatar in the world to maintain balance."

"But not every member of the Black Lotus agreed," the third said. "After Avatar Yuy's death, the Order fractured. We decided we had to atone for our part in bringing the Avatar to an end, but others decided it was the perfect time to launch an attack against everything else. Some followed us, and some followed others."

"Quinze," Trowa said. He remembered the dire warning Quatre had given about that unknown factor in the war.

"That was later," the fifth said. "Quinze was Avatar Yuy's friend. He joined the Black Lotus for revenge against the whole world for his death."

"Instead," the first smiled, "we joined the Order of the White Lotus as well. From there, we could use the resources of both, the alliances we held within each, to ensure not only that we found you and others like you, but we were prepared to ensure balance through whichever force became stronger."

"The Black Lotus won," the second shrugged and his long nose twitched. "And look where we are. When this battle is over, the world will be in balance again."

"Only because _we_ will see to it," Trowa sneered. "You had nothing to do with that."

"That's your opinion," the third said disapprovingly. "You could say that our great mistakes have led to this outcome, and from this outcome can come peace."

"You guys are sick, did you know that?" Trowa felt some of Duo's unique fury creep into him and he welcomed it. "I don't know that there are five more wrong people on the planet than you."

"As you will," the fourth shrugged.

"You're going to kill us, then?" the fifth asked.

"Yes," Trowa said. "When you fall, the Black Lotus will be weakened and the corruption of the White Lotus will be cleansed."

"True," the first replied, "but Quinze and his people will be strengthened."

"Another will handle him," Trowa smiled. "There are five of us, too. If you Five could break the world, we will fix it as five."

"Go ahead and kill us if you want," the second said. "But before you do, there's something you should know."

"Quinze has one last plan," the fourth said. "A plan he'll employ when he has no other options left. A plan that will destroy that which he hates the most."

"What is it?" Trowa demanded.

"We don't know. But we're willing to help you figure it out if you let us," the third said. "Call it the last of our penance for the death of the Avatar."

Trowa considered for a moment. Then he shook his head and straightened his shoulders.

"If we're going to save this world, we have to save it our way. You've done so much harm, so much damage, caused so much pain and death, trying to 'help.' Your twisted view of what is right is behind most of what we now have to overcome."

"You don't need all of us," offered the second. "If even one survives, we might be able to make the difference."

Trowa felt a flash of anger and betrayal rush through him. He looked at the Five, acutely aware that these men were why Meiran had died, why Solo had died, why Heero had grown up expecting to have to kill himself, why he himself had never known a home or a family. That these men were the force behind the entire Black Lotus, that they had engineered so much death and destruction and pain.

"You have made enough difference!" he scowled.

Trowa raised his hands. The air came to his call and filled him like a terrible tornado. The Five watched him dispassionately.

Trowa called the air...and dropped it. "No. I won't. I won't kill you like this."

"How very Air Nomad of you," smirked the third. "For all your refusal to be a proper Nomad, it seems you have at last embraced their unwillingness to kill."

"You're wrong," Trowa shook his head with a sudden, open smile. He gathered the air once more and twisted around the Five, lifting them and throwing them into the sky. With a leap, he joined them, but in control as opposed to their helpless flailing. The massive flag of Republic City that snapped in the breeze only a few buildings away came tumbling around them as his wind ripped it free.

Trowa curled the flag around the Five and dropped them down in the courtyard in front of the balcony where Relena Peacecraft looked on in surprise. The Five struggled minimally, but the dense flag, plus a quick enclosure called from the stone by Noin at Relena's elbow effectively contained them.

"You're wrong," Trowa said again, still smiling that smile that he had never known he carried inside his heart – and now knew where it came from, and who – and he whistled for Triton. But before jumping to join the sky bison, he looked at the Five one last time.

"I have not embraced the Air Nomad ways. I have embraced my own ways. As an Avatar."


	28. The Battle Cry - A Symphony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even if he didn't know why or from where, Quatre knew it was time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I first began writing this story, the very first thing I wrote was the prologue. The second thing I wrote was the epilogue. The third thing was the last portion of this chapter. It's been more than a year and at last it has come to this.
> 
> Enjoy!

"I thought you might come," Treize greeted Wufei calmly.

"I will not leave the battlefield until there is no one left to fight," Wufei replied. "Thanks to you and your father, there is no shortage of people whose destiny is to die today." Wufei had fought himself a burning path through the side of the Fire Nation formation to get to where Treize stood in command. In most cases he had attempted not to kill his opponents, but fire being what it was, he met the Fire Nation's prince with blood on his white sleeves.

"Do you think I don't know that?" Treize replied, waving away those guards who thought to rush to protect him. "I know every man and woman whose spirit may be lost today. I know the name of every fallen Fire Nation soldier under my command."

Wufei paused in surprise, but his mask hid the expression. He raised his chin. "Then you understand why I am here."

"I cannot let you destroy me," Treize said, and he shrugged even as his eyes narrowed. "My own forces will answer to none but me, and we have a task that does not include making war on Republic City."

"You intend to betray the Fire Nation?" Wufei was surprised.

" _Never_." Treize hissed the word angrily. "The Fire Lord has betrayed the Fire Nation. It is my duty and honor to protect our people from his folly, just as Prince Zuko fought Ozai alongside the Avatar. The world," he gestured at the Republic City defenders, "has claimed freedom and courage for itself. It is time for the Old Four to recognize that for what it is and welcome such strength."

Wufei regarded his opponent steadily for a few moments as his thoughts raced for a new strategy. When he spoke, there was resignation in his voice. "Prince Treize," Wufei drew himself up. "I challenge you to an _Agni Kai_." Then, impulsively, he pulled off his mask. "I am Wufei, one of the Gundams and also the final Avatar candidate. By the laws of our people, having been tested and trained in the temples during my youth, I am also therefore a Fire Sage. My duty has always been to the Fire Nation but only after my duty to the world."

"I had wondered who you really were," Treize said. Then he bowed. "I accept your challenge. Even though there are things I would rather be doing right now," he glanced to where the Fire Nation forces that did not answer to him had crashed into the Republic City defenses.

"If you defeat me in single-combat, you may pursue your own agenda as you wish and I will not interfere. But in exchange, if you fail, then in my capacity as Fire Sage I will declare that Fire Lord Dermail is in violation of the laws of the Fire Nation and it is your duty as General to remove him from power."

Treize actually smiled. "You of course realize that the outcome is the same no matter who wins, then."

"Yes," Wufei nodded, and his eyes might have betrayed his own smile, "but the impact to your honor is not. And we both know that a prince without honor can never lead his people."

"I thank you for preserving my honor, then," Treize bowed again. "May it serve our people well."

-==OOO==-

Secretariat Septum was hastily scrawling a message in his tent. His men had actually refused, _refused_ to attack while the general was out facing an earthbender in a formal duel. Only a writ from the Earth King himself would convince the general's loyal commanders to interrupt the duel, so Septum was working at providing one.

"I don't think he spells his full name that way," a voice spoke dryly from behind him. Septum jumped so hard he spilled ink all over the imperial papers.

"Who are you?" he demanded, turning, small dagger tight in his hand. At the sight of a blackened mask, he lunged forward in a desperate strike. He shouted as he did so, suddenly terrified. " _It's a Gundam_!"

"Nice try," Duo commented, stepping easily to one side and seizing the man's hand in his grip. "But you're going to have to be a lot tougher than that."

Duo hesitated for one moment before he made a decision. With his other hand, he reached and drew the spilled ink, and the rest in the bottle, to himself. Then he sloshed black liquid straight into Septum's face, blinding him as he choked on it.

"You get one shot at this," Duo said, dropping his voice to the low, creepy register that made Shinigami's blood sing. "You're going to answer my question and you aren't going to lie or I'll dry out your eyes."

Septum gurgled.

"Besides you and Quinze, who is the third Black Lotus Grand Master?" It was the only piece of information Quatre hadn't been able to uncover.

Septum was trying to cough, but the ink stayed pooled in his mouth at Duo's command, and try as he might he could not spit it out. Duo gave him a moment to think about it before he pulled the ink clear. Septum blinked as his eyes were suddenly free of that stinging liquid, and he squinted tears away as he gulped. He looked up at the serpent mask and considered lying, or refusing to answer.

Duo swirled the ink he held suspended threateningly.

"It's the Fire Lord!" Septum said hurriedly. "His granddaughter is part of it but he's the real Master behind it all. Quinze recruited him years ago."

"The Fire Lord, huh?" Duo mused. "That makes things more interesting."

Then he thrust his hand forward and wrapped the ink around Septum's throat. The bureaucrat tried to pull at it but it was like clawing at stone.

"I said I wouldn't dry your eyes out and I didn't lie," Duo shrugged. Then he leaned closer. "Normally I'd be bloodbending you too, but I have a feeling I'm gonna need to keep that one in reserve. So this'll have to do."

Septum's eyes bulged and his face turned purple before he finally went lax. The instant he was unconscious, Duo released the ink. He could feel the man's sluggish heartbeat falter, then strengthen. Duo nodded to himself.

"You deserve a lot worse than to die and I don't have to kill you this time. Be grateful, you slime."

-==OOO==-

From his vantage point, Quatre could see the two individual fights at either end of the battle – Zechs and Heero far to the east, Wufei and Treize to the west. From the large portions of the two armies that had not advanced, it appeared his plan was working. The men loyal to their generals were waiting to see how these battles ended before continuing with their orders. Because of that, it was only a small number of the Fire Nation army that was engaging the Republic City defenders on the land. In the bay, the Water Tribes were more than adequately holding off the Fire Nation ships.

"But it's still just a standstill," Quatre said to himself. "Nothing is being decided because no one has to face the reality yet. They're all waiting and watching, not deciding."

The quickest way to that end would have been to signal Wufei and Heero to stop, to let the armies advance and send the situation spiraling into the worst-possible albeit clearest and most decisive outcome, but Quatre _would not do it_. Not for anything.

Then his heart suddenly flared with a warning, and he wondered if it was his empathy or something of the Avatar stirring slowly to life within himself. He remembered oddly the last fight outside Republic City, and the message Heero had received. A summons, clear as the sun in the sky, that the time had come. Then, it had been sent by those with nothing but death on their minds. Now, Quatre felt that his own intuition carried the same message to him, but for an entirely different reason.

Even if he didn't know why or from where, Quatre knew it was _time_.

Consulting the equipment of the Mechanists, Quatre noted the movement of a set of soldiers who appeared to have bled into a single force out of the chaos. Amidst them marched a tall figure with pale and flowing hair. They were moving towards where Wufei battled Treize within the Fire Nation forces.

Quatre grabbed his shotels and started to run. He whistled for Sandrock, who did not respond and Quatre assumed he was still with Trowa somewhere, but Kai appeared out of the sky. Quatre took a long streamer, ice-blue in color, and affixed to her leg.

"Fly, Kai!" he shouted and launched her into the air.

But he had no time to wait for the signal to be answered. Instead, he charged through the Mechanist fortifications, dodged the far edge of the Maganacs, and threw himself into the path of the small knot of fighters. He would never have made it in time to intercept them in the open except at that moment there was a crash as loud as an earthquake from the vicinity of Heero's battle which caused virtually everyone on the battlefield to pause and look towards the Earth Kingdom army. That pause slowed the little group extricating themselves from the Fire Nation formation enough that Quatre reached them.

"Princess Dorothy," Quatre said as he stopped, holding the pair of shotels crossed before him. "I did not know you were part of the Order of the Black Lotus."

For that was obviously what these fighters were. They were mainly dressed in the uniforms of the Fire Nation, but looking closely Quatre could see a familiar emblem stitched on their sleeves. A group of others drifted to the group of soldiers, these in Earth Kingdom greens and browns, and a few seemed to materialize out of the Republic City lines wearing all black.

"I suppose this is what remains of the Black Lotus soldiers after the failed ambush," Quatre said, almost politely. "I am impressed so many still bow to the thinking of the Black Lotus."

"Not all of us," Dorothy tossed her head. "To some, the Black Lotus is merely a means to an end."

"For some," Quatre replied, "that end is to destroy or break away from all others. Even those earthbenders beside you would rather see you dead than cooperate with you except that it is necessary."

"Oh, there are no earthbenders here," Dorothy shook her head with a smile. "They're _busy_. But don't fret. There are plenty of firebenders to keep you company."

Quatre's mind seized onto that odd fact but pushed it aside. "And what about you, Princess Dorothy? Will you really be content to let them attempt to defeat me in your place?"

"Why shouldn't I?" she returned, but she had raised an intrigued eyebrow. "Who are you to interest me?"

"I am Quatre Raberba," he replied, taking off his mask. He allowed his smug satisfaction to show in his cold smile. "I am the only son of Zayeed, heir to the Raberba family and to the high seat of Omashu. I am also," his smile grew darker, "a Gundam."

"So, a traitor twice over," Dorothy mused. "But you are not Fire Nation. Why should I trouble myself when there is another Gundam who is much more a betrayer than you just over there?"

"Because," Quatre shrugged. He had read her heart now, and he knew how to win her undivided attention and keep it on himself rather than Wufei. His smile became openly challenging. "Because I'm better than you."

-==OOO==-

Wufei felt something prickle in his awareness, a sense he could not identify, but it was enough to draw his attention. He was exhausted and he had a few new burns on his forearm from blocking a dangerously clever strike by Treize. He unleashed a funnel of fire like a whirlwind and sent it dancing towards the Fire Nation prince; while his opponent was thus distracted, Wufei dared glance around.

A hawk carrying a white-blue banner caught his eye and he drew in a sharp breath.

"My apologies," he called as he started to charge with a new burst of flame. "I have no more time to waste."

Treize had finished dispelling the torrent of fire in time to hear the warning, but not in time to block. The force of the flames that hit him was enough to knock him off his feet, and might have meant the end of the fight for any other firebender with their root broken. But Treize drew fire from his breath and deflected enough of the blow to regain his footing.

When he looked at his opponent, there was something new in the ferocity of the dark eyes. He recalled their first battle, and that he had known this Gundam would surpass him once he found the center and core of his own fire and strength. Treize looked for what could have inspired the Gundam so and sighted the messenger hawk with the streamer that was distinct across the blazing sky.

"That signifies that this battle has changed, does it not?" Treize asked.

"It signifies that my battle with you is now unimportant. I am needed elsewhere," Wufei raised his arms and began drawing heat from the air.

"Wait," Treize held up a hand. "My honor is preserved. We have battled as I was required to do. You need not delay any longer."

Wufei dropped the heat and stepped forward, forehead creased. "You would just abandon this combat so easily?"

"What I have to fight for is much greater than this," Treize answered, "and the same is true of you. Now we are keeping one another from our destinies. End it now and free us both to do what must be done."

Wufei did not hesitate again. He drew a long rope of fire from the air and swung it once.

Treize's topknot, neatly burned off, landed on the ground between them.

Wufei bowed with a superior, slightly amused smile creeping at the corners of his expression. "As a Fire Sage, I declare your father to be in violation of Fire Nation law. It falls to you, General Treize, to rectify the situation." And he turned without another glance and began to run.

Treize ran a hand over his newly chopped hair and allowed himself a small sigh at its damaged and probably very silly state. "Mission accepted, Wufei." Then, he strode into the ranks of his own men to do what must be done.

-==OOO==-

Heero dug his fingers deep into the earth beneath his feet before yanking upwards, pulling an entire slab of the field with him which he spun and slammed down, crushing the massive wall of stone down over Zechs's head. His chest buzzed as he pushed his bending to its limit, but he was careful not to overdo it. After all, Zechs was still standing.

It had been a fight for the ages, with all the force of two worlds crashing into one another. Zechs and Heero had both invented techniques on the spot to cope with one another, had twisted themselves and their element to new forms and powers, had rendered the entire area separating the Earth Kingdom army from Republic City and the Fire Nation ground forces a wasteland filled with shadowy-deep sinkholes and towering piles of boulders.

Heero reached for stone and drew up a long shape that he manipulated into a razor-sharp javelin. But he did not launch it at Zechs – instead, he wielded it like a grandly-oversized broadsword and struck with a swing. Zechs brought up a defense of his own that was turned to a stone saber even as it clashed against Heero's. The distance might have hidden it, but Heero felt sure he could see a smile on the exposed part of Zechs's face as he parried with a weapon three times his own height.

Heero continued to sword-fight him but also drew a chunk of soft earth from beneath his foot and kicked it at Zechs when the general was distracted. The earth struck him full in the face. Heero wasted no time. With a single pull, he forced the earth up into the helmet that hid Zechs's identity and yanked it from his head.

Zechs froze, caught utterly off-guard. Heero blinked as the white hair parted to reveal eyes that were so very familiar. He didn't know he was going to do it – the word just slipped out. "Relena."

"Close enough," Zechs's smooth face quirked in a smile that reached his eyes.

Heero opened his mouth to say something else, but something suddenly plopped down in the dust between the pair of earthbenders. It glinted with gold.

"There's your proof," called a cheerful voice. Heero looked over to see Duo sitting calmly on a boulder a little distance away. "Took it out of Septum's tent. The SecretariRat was forging a note from the king when we had our little chat."

"Did you kill him?" Zechs asked, feeling how strange it was to have the cool wind blowing across his bare face again. He assumed it was that unexpected event that had caused him to utterly miss the approach of this Gundam and the stolen royal seal he carried.

"No," Duo shook his head, sunlight glinting off the black mask. "Left him for you."

"Much as I would like to finish this," Zechs looked to Heero, "if what he says is true, my duty lies elsewhere."

"So does ours," Duo said. He pointed up into the sky at a messenger hawk. "We gotta go, bud!"

-==OOO==-

Trowa spotted Kai almost at once as Triton carried him over the ridge and back to the fight on the land. He had intended to head straight back after detaining the Five, but Sandrock had dipped to the ocean where the Water Tribes appeared to have been pushed back by the Fire Nation. Sandrock had circled a particular Water Tribe ship, and when he had gotten closer he had recognized Hilde. So Trowa had taken the opportunity to wreak havoc with the Fire Nation ships from the air. But the wind had suddenly felt oddly cold and he had finished quickly, overturning one last ship before streaking back over the city to the far side.

"Quatre needs us," he said to Triton as his eyes locked on where Kai circled. Triton rumbled low in his chest. "Not you, I think. If you want to keep the Fire Nation off that mountain, though," he pointed, "go for it."

Triton swooped low enough that Trowa could drop off easily before banking away to go intercept a few invaders who had begun to ascend the ridge with a gust of very strong air.

Trowa took in the scene. There was a fair number of soldiers here, and Black Lotus from the look of the marks on their uniforms. They had formed a defensive perimeter around something in the center, something he guessed was Quatre. To one side, Wufei, maskless, was trying to force his way through.

Heero and Duo ran up beside Trowa, and almost without thinking about it, the three of them also took their masks off and let them fall. Heero stamped into the ground to pull them upwards enough to see what was happening.

Quatre and Dorothy were fighting, Quatre with his shotels and Dorothy with a thin, light blade. Her stabs at him were vicious, aggressive, and deadly, but he evaded her carefully. Trowa drew in the air to better hear what they were saying.

"Then you actually hate war too!" Quatre cried. "Stop this! We're going to _end_ the fighting!"

" _You_ cannot end anything!" Dorothy replied furiously. "You have no power! Only power will contain the evil of men and the desire to make war. If there is no Avatar, there must be a single dominating nation to rule in its place!"

"The Avatar never ruled!" Quatre yelled, ducking to one side against a swipe that punctured his sleeve.

"Maybe he should have!" Dorothy shouted.

"Come on," Heero said. He launched the three of them without any warning, but they didn't need one. Trowa steadied them in the air and Duo let out a high, wild cry of warning and battle. They dropped down inside the ring of Black Lotus soldiers, who immediately attacked. In moments, Wufei joined them and they began dispatching the Black Lotus forces.

"You have to stop this, Dorothy," Quatre was saying. "I give you my word, we will-"

"You are a Gundam, and as a Gundam you will _die_!"

Dorothy's arm lashed out and the crackling of lightning seemed to suck all other sounds out of the air.

"No!"

Four yelled it at once as they all but dropped their bending and flat-out _ran_. Trowa was spinning air behind him, Wufei lit fire to jet himself forward, Duo rose on a tidal wave of water he drew from the very grasses under their feet, and Heero launched himself with every step in the earth. But, sickeningly, they knew they wouldn't make it in time.

The bolt was faster than the eye could track. And there stood Quatre, shotels dropping from his hands, and a look on his face not of surprise or fear, but intense, focused concentration. As they watched, Quatre's left arm extended as though he meant to redirect it.

And then he didn't.

"Quatre!" Trowa got to him first, but was held at bay by the flickering energy sparking around him. Wufei arrived next and started to push through the burning arcs the lightning cast with his own firebending to help him, but was met by a voice that rumbled as it neared from behind.

"Don't."

Dorothy was laughing triumphantly, and Heero took her moment of distraction to encase her completely in a mound of solid earth, reinforced without a second thought about whether or not she could breathe or move in there. He and Duo skidded to a halt beside the others and stared at Quatre.

Somehow, Quatre had absorbed the lightning, but was not redirecting it. It danced around him and out of him in flashing streams that smelled of burned clothing and flesh. But his face was still and eerily composed and his wide eyes were unseeing.

"You have to let it go!" Wufei roared over the sound. "Even I can't contain that much energy!"

"Cat, do it!"

"Wait."

"Heero, we _can't_ wait," Wufei argued. But the dark blue eyes were wide and steady and he fixed them on the other three.

"I understand this. Trust him."

Heero stepped closer to Quatre, but not quite close enough to enter into the path of the flickering, still-streaking lightning. He extended a hand to Duo, who took it wordlessly. Trowa took up Heero's other hand at an impatient head-nod. Wufei let out a furious breath. Yes, he could see what the stubborn earthbender wanted him to do.

"You had better be right about this," he growled. The firebender seized Duo's other hand and, with a last glance to Heero, drove his remaining arm into the energy around Quatre, latching on to a pale and trembling hand. As the energy shocked through Wufei to Duo and Heero, Trowa felt himself snap with it, involuntarily grasping for Quatre's free hand with his own.

And when the circle was completed, the lightning stopped sparking and _sang_.

Quatre's eyes had closed at the touch from Wufei, and his head tipped forward. The lightning now raced around the circle, faster and faster, like the flow of water in a whirlpool or the air in a tornado. With each pass, it grew in strength rather than diminishing, and it seemed to lock their bodies together – not one of them could have let go even if he had wanted to.

Perversely, Wufei heard in his mind the words of his mentor quoting Fire Lord Zuko's own teachings from his uncle, General Iroh, about what it meant to redirect lightning.

" _You cannot hope to control it. You are merely its humble guide."_

And he understood all in a flash exactly what Quatre was doing, exactly why he had not tried to evade Dorothy's strike, exactly what Quatre's ultimate goal was. Wufei would hate him for it later, but for now, all he could do was let himself go. None of them could control it anymore. Even Quatre was no longer guiding the energy of their destiny.

Wufei felt himself seem to fall asleep, his eyes closing, his mind going dark. He could not fight it and he didn't want to. He let it overtake him, and even without looking he knew the others were doing the same. Whatever this was, it was meant to be this way.

A moment later, five young men standing in a circle united of spirit and elements, steeped in trust and purpose, began to rise from the ground. Their circle took on a white glow and the lightning that arced between them became pure light. Air rose up to cradle and surround them. Water flowed to them and between them where their hands joined. Fire sparked in rings around them. Earth broke free of the ground to circle them like a hundred stars.

The Avatar had returned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you think you're going to die of cliffhanger-syndrome, let me know and I might put up the next chapter early. :-)


	29. We Are One Chosen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "We are the Avatar."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is one full chapter left and a long epilogue that will go up over the next 2 weeks. Those of you who won a oneshot from me – be thinking! I've got 4 oneshots already written, so I'll be posting those through July, but come August it'll be time for yours! The sooner you give me your requested scene or clarification, the sooner I'll have it done. I'll even send you a copy first if you would like.
> 
> Also, I think the time has come at last to tell you the fourth song in my soundtrack that nobody guessed. I warned you it was obscure. The song is called "Lexington" by Alpha Rev. It's an amazing, amazing song, and I feel like it encapsulates, maybe more than most others, what makes Gundam Wing so deep and full and beloved.
> 
> Last thing – I won't be posting the weekend of July 4th because I will be at CONvergence in Bloomington, MN. If you are going to be there, PM me or leave a review and we should meet up!
> 
> This one, you guys. This is for you.
> 
> Enjoy!

The sphere of light and elements rose higher and higher like a star hanging in the sky. Even the morning sunlight paled in comparison to its glow.

For a surprisingly long time, it just stayed there in the air, shining. The pulsing of the elements that moved around it was the only indication that it was not merely a radiant cloud that had come to visit the battlefield. And yet there was a feeling in the air so potent it could choke. Even those most committed to battle found it difficult to turn from that sight to resume fighting – every time they looked away, a feeling like gravity drew them back in numb stillness.

The sphere hung in the air so long, word reached the population of Republic City, those who could not already see it from their boarded-up windows, and the streets began to fill with people trying to earn a glance.

Relena and Sally and Noin and Lady Une would have been among them if not for Triton. The sky bison reacted to the bright glowing sphere with supreme sense, racing to them and clearly ordering them onto his back. He chose to set down on the highest peak of the ridge, well away from any danger, but with a perfect view. The four women climbed off his broad back to stand and look out over the scene. Sally smiled secretly and scratched his ears.

"You couldn't have known, could you?" Noin found her voice.

"No," Sally shook her head, and there were tears in her eyes. "No, I couldn't have known. But I _hoped_."

"So did I," said Lady Une very softly. "So did we all."

The sphere seemed to suddenly shine even more brightly, as if lit from within. The silhouettes of the five young men winked out completely and there was only light.

" _We are the Avatar_ ," they intoned with more voices than five – with the voices of a thousand past Avatars.

All over the battlefield, all throughout the city, on the ships in the harbor and within their protective defenses, people dropped to their knees and bowed as they listened.

" _The Avatar is not a person. The Avatar is a choice made by humanity thousands of years ago to live interconnected rather than apart. The Avatar is a sacrifice made by like minds and souls to ensure that the world would live as one people forever. The power of that choice has withstood generations and wars and imbalance and now death. For as long as our soul is strong, the Avatar cycle will only be broken when the world itself shatters_."

Silence reigned as the white sphere blazed brighter and brighter with every word.

" _Choose your path. The Avatar maintains balance, not destiny. Lay down your weapons and choose peace, or take them up and make war. We encourage you to determine your choice, but we will act according to our own choice as well._ "

The rumble and crack of earthbending broke the quiet as a pillar rose up out of the Earth Kingdom army until it loomed over the battlefield. Zechs stood atop it, but his mask was gone. Relena and Noin both gasped to see it.

"I choose not to fight!" he shouted. The mask he had worn for most of his life was in his hands and he flung it away, and with a flick of bending, caused it to disintegrate in midair. "I choose the way of Relena Peacecraft and Marticus Peacecraft before her. And I choose to defend that peace with all my strength!"

A cry went up among the Earth Kingdom soldiers and suddenly earthbenders were throwing away helmets and swords and tearing down their own war machines.

Across the battlefield, a burst of light appeared in the air as fire rose like a dragon and twisted itself into a single word, its strokes delicate and blazing: "Peace."

And then another cry went up, but this one was not so uniform. Many Fire Nation soldiers began pulling off their swords, but others, those on the westernmost edge of the battle instead shouted angrily and prepared to fight. But a crack of lightning cut off the yelling. Another pillar of earth rose up, bearing Prince Treize – and those with sharp eyes could see that it was Zechs who had summoned it when he knew where Treize had been.

"The Fire Lord has betrayed the Fire Nation to those who would send our people against their own kin. As rightful heir to the throne, I invoke my right to unseat my father for the crime of an unjust war. If you are loyal to the Fire Nation, stand down and join me!"

In the confused chaos that met this statement, the Avatar's own power pulsed and drew every eye back to the sphere of light.

" _The world has chosen peace and freedom. These men of honor have chosen unity. This city has chosen acceptance and tolerance and the path of wisdom. And_ _we stand with them_ _. Who will oppose us now?_ "

There was a long moment and then even those forces who had been prepared to resist began to surrender. Some bowed low before the Avatar, others turned their swords over to warriors who had already made their choices known. Like a wave breaking over the shore, the battlefield fell quiet and still.

" _We are with you. We will always be with you_ ," intoned the Avatar. And the sphere began to slowly descend, its glow fading.

Relena was startled by a gentle touch on her cheeks. She looked to Noin, who gently wiped away her tears; Relena hadn't even noticed she'd been weeping. "It's over, Relena. The war is over."

"And a new world is beginning," Sally's eyes were wet and her face was flushed, but she grinned brightly. Then she reached a hand to Une. "You coming?"

"Yes," Lady Une smiled too.

"Where are you going?" Relena asked as the two began to climb back aboard Triton.

"To bring the news to the ships," Sally answered. "Come on. We'll give you a ride back into the city, if Triton doesn't mind."

"Oh, Treize," Une said quietly to herself as the waterbender helped the other two back onto Triton, "your dream has come to pass."

-==OOO==-

As the power went out of them the moment they touched down on the ground, they crumbled. Not one of the five had any remaining strength it seemed. Heero and Trowa wound up on one knee while Duo caught himself on all-fours. Wufei gave up all pretense of it for a bad job and let himself sit in the dirt. But Quatre collapsed completely.

"Quatre," Heero forced out with a roughened and dry voice. " _Quatre_."

"He…he can't be dead," Duo managed shakily, looking up in panic from where he had fallen. "He can't be. We have to be with him."

Wufei and Trowa were closest, and both scooted to him clumsily, every move feeling like they were dragging their bodies through liquid metal. Wufei got him turned over in time for Trowa to catch his golden-haired head in his lap.

"Is he breathing?" Wufei demanded.

"No…he isn't," Trowa whispered.

Duo launched himself across the circle in an ungainly pile of boneless limbs until he could put a hand on Quatre's chest. "His heart is still beating. A little. But not for long. I can't bloodbend this to make it right. He's dying!"

"Save him, Trowa," came Heero's voice. "Give him air."

"But…" He was afraid, afraid to hurt him, afraid to make it worse, afraid to do the wrong thing. This was a time for steadiness, and he felt anything but steady.

"Either do it or we'll all kill you ourselves!" Wufei shouted at him. "It is all _worthless_ if he dies now!"

Trowa shook himself and looked at the other three faces around him. His objections died in his chest and he moved without thinking. He breathed in all the air his body could hold and bent. Cautiously, terrified, he sealed his lips over Quatre's and let the air flow.

If this failed, they would never again know joy. If this bending could not save Quatre, forget the Avatar Soul, forget everything but this person they needed in order to exist, they, their bending, everything was worth nothing.

It was with a start he realized that he was no longer thinking as himself. His mind and heart were feeling the same agony Heero and Duo and Wufei shared, even if none of them sensed it as Quatre would have with his empathy. They were purely feeling it together. He had never wanted anything in his life, not really, and now he wanted them all more than life itself, and they all wanted him and each other. They were truly one, bound heart and soul.

The universe must have a perverse sense of humor indeed if _this_ was the moment it chose to teach them so.

"Now let it out," Duo commanded. "He can't _only_ breathe in."

Trowa allowed himself to let go for a moment, looking at Quatre's pale face. The motionless chest contracted and the rush of stale air smelled uncomfortably of emptiness to Trowa's senses. Without waiting for Duo, he bent again and breathed for Quatre.

"Please, buddy," Duo pushed against Quatre's chest, trying to encourage that heart to beat harder, touching the blood within only very slightly with a gentleness he had never known he possessed, "we won't be whole without you."

"Come on, Quatre," Heero said in a low voice. "You brought us this far. If you die now, everything you've worked for will be over. You can't die without us, and it is not our time to die yet. You taught me that."

"We love you, Quatre," Wufei said. Heero and Duo shot him a sudden, almost affronted look, but Wufei shrugged at them. "We do. All of us. You're part of us. You cannot take it away now. You cannot leave us alone. You promised."

"We need you, Quatre," Trowa whispered achingly as he watched Quatre's chest deflate again. "Come back."

He didn't really intend to do it. Heero was just desperate for Quatre to live, for all of them to be one again. He barely noticed he had put his hand on top of Duo's over Quatre's heart. He might not have been aware of it at all except that Wufei's covered his, and Trowa added his as he finished another breath. The four of them – water, earth, fire, and air – trying to push life into Quatre's body. It had nothing to do with saving the world now.

They needed him to live so they could save themselves.

Trowa had bent to breathe for Quatre again when the limp body in their arms suddenly convulsed, and they jumped in surprise. Duo was quicker, though, and had Quatre on his side, retching and shuddering but not choking as he brought himself back to life. The braided waterbender rubbed slow circles on Quatre's back, speaking soothingly to him as he shoved the others away just enough to give Quatre room to breathe. He heard a snort and looked up.

"I thought you weren't a healer," Heero said dryly.

"I'm not. Any _idiot_ knows how to do this," Duo shot back. And they did not smile at one another, no matter how much the banter hid their relief.

-==OOO==-

Quinze turned to those gathered near him, the only ones left of his once vast network of benders and soldiers. His heart burned feverishly and he nearly giggled. He wondered why he felt so strange. No matter.

"We have failed," he said instead. "It is time for our final act of revenge. Let the world tremble and break before us!"

-==OOO==-

Fire Lord Dermail had quit the battlefield long before the appearance of the Avatar and now he was fleeing. He was incandescent with rage, but he knew his options were limited. Treize commanded the loyalty of most of the Fire Nation forces and had invoked a right established 195 years prior by Fire Lord Zuko, one no soldier would dare disobey. Dermail would stand trial like Fire Lord Ozai before him and be sentenced accordingly.

But only if they caught him. If he could get back to Capital Island first, he could rally the nation to his side and cast out Treize once and for all. He only needed find the flagship of the navy, the one ship he felt certain was still his and his alone. Its captain, Tsuberov, was a man very much after his own heart.

A way had been cleared for him into Republic City and he had taken it – it was the quickest way to reach his ship. It meant leaving behind his grand robes and his crest, but more could be made.

Dermail ducked through the throngs of people and raced towards the harbor.

-==OOO==-

"Something's wrong," was the first thing Quatre croaked around his labored breathing.

"Nothing's wrong, OwlCat," Duo said soothingly. "It's over. We won!"

"No…no, it's not," Quatre shook his head. He stretched out a pale hand and gripped Heero's wrist. "Can't you feel it?"

Heero didn't know what he was talking about, but he had learned to trust. The earthbender closed his eyes and listened. There were so many people, so much movement and commotion, and then as he reached farther… His eyes flew open. "Quatre!"

"I know. Go! You have to stop it."

"What is it?" Wufei demanded. But Heero was already moving, racing blindly in the direction of the sinking, horrible feeling that touched the very edges of his profound earth sense.

"Quinze's last plan," Trowa realized. "The Five warned me about it."

"What is it?" Duo asked. Trowa shrugged.

"They're…oh, we can't let them…" Quatre fought for breath and managed to get himself up onto one knee. "Come on. It's going to take all of us to stop them!"

-==OOO==-

Zechs and Treize met in the middle of the field. They stared at one another for a long, long moment.

Then Treize held out his hand. "It's nice to see you, Millardo."

Millardo smiled with a lightness he hadn't felt since before his father's death and grasped the hand warmly. "Hello, old friend."

"It's good to see you are all right." Treize raised an eyebrow at the state of Millardo's clothing, utterly torn and scraped and dirtied beyond recognition from his fight with Heero.

"And you," but Millardo couldn't keep the smile from his eyes as he glanced at Treize's missing topknot and his now slightly-ridiculous hair.

"We won today, but we lost, too," Treize said a little more somberly. "You've lost your identity, I've lost my father, and many people have died."

"And yet," Millardo said, still grasping Treize's hand, "the Avatar is with us again. The people stood up and declared their independence and strength with one voice, and they dared fight us for it. If there had been no Avatar, the people of the world and of Republic City would have died to a man for it. I believe that is all we ever wanted."

"Yes it is."

"Then let's go build a world in which no one ever has to die for their freedom again," Millardo said. "In the name of my father, on the path Relena has forged, let us begin anew."

Arm in arm, they began to walk towards the city.

-==OOO==-

Heero moved with the speed of pure thought, his earth carrying him around and sometimes above and over anyone in his path. He had to stop more than once to touch the ground to seek out the source of the problem, but before long he was within Republic City. The ground had only just begun to shake and he veered quickly to one side. On the main road that led to the central peninsula, the center of the city, he stopped short at the white-haired man who met him there.

"Quinze," Heero growled as he came to a halt.

"Yuy?" Quinze's face creased. "You're dead. Are you a spirit?"

"No," Heero was made even angrier by that. "I am Heero, student of Sifu Odin and earthbender of the Gundams. I am the Avatar, but I am not Yuy."

"You died," Quinze said a little sadly. "You died because I didn't save you. I was injured and I was afraid. I was healing my own wound when you fell. By the time I reached you…"

"You were there?" Heero was surprised.

"And when I saw what had happened to you, when I saw what had been done, I vowed revenge," Quinze was moving a little closer now. "You were murdered and I would make them pay for it."

"By joining the Order of the Black Lotus, the very people who were behind the attack?" Heero hadn't been entirely sure before, but now he knew Quinze was normally a little crazy, not just at the moment.

"Black Lotus, White Lotus! What does it matter? In the end you were killed by people's hatred and fear. You were killed because there is no answer or one true way and there is no peace and people should pay!"

"What are you doing to Republic City, Quinze?" Heero demanded.

"We're sinking it," came the answer. "All of us. The city will fall and all will die and there will be justice!"

"You know that makes _absolutely no sense_ , right?" Heero felt a very Wufei-like sneer cross his face.

"Well, I wanted to destroy _everything_ for killing you, Yuy," he shrugged. "And the Black Lotus had the power. They hate Republic City and it's full of people. What do I care where the revenge begins as long as it begins somewhere?"

"I'm going to stop you," Heero reached to the earth. "I have to stop you."

"Oh, no," Quinze said. "I'm afraid you won't."

He moved and Heero was horrified to realize he recognized the motion but too late. Quinze jabbed his shoulder and quirked his fingers and Heero dropped to the ground like a stone.

"I'm a much different person than you once knew, old friend. I learned a very interesting skill from a very interesting young man just before I killed him while on a Black Lotus mission many years ago. He'd taught some boy to do this, but that boy could barely bend a puddle. Imagine how much more adept I am as a master waterbender!"

Heero lashed at the earth to try to disrupt Quinze, but the earth failed him. It could not answer him enough now to save him, enough to save thousands and thousands of innocent people.

"I'm sorry Yuy," Quinze's face was twisted a little strangely. "I know you wouldn't want it to end like this."

"Then don't do this," Heero responded desperately, clutching at his chest as his heart fought the bloodbending to beat correctly.

"No. No, this is the right path. By destroying Republic City, the people will pay for what they did to you, what they did to the _world_ , what they will do _again and again_ until there is _NOTHING LEFT_!"

Heero tried to stand back up, to bend, _anything_ , but he was trapped with the endless beating in his ears and the slowing of his heart. He thought about the others and felt a wave of sorrow. He was going to fail. He was going to break his promise. He was going to leave them alone.

"I..." Heero managed. "I want...I want...to survive."

"You know," came a familiar, brilliantly welcome voice. "There's only one thing stronger than a pissed-off bloodbender."

Duo stepped forward.

"And that's a pissed-off bloodbending _Avatar_."

And without having to punch his own shoulder, for Heero could now see that Trowa and Wufei and Quatre were ranged behind him, feeding him strength and power as only they could, more than enough to overpower Quinze's bending, Duo raised his hands and Heero was free of the foreign influence. For once, Duo's bloodbending did not subvert the will of another – it restored it. The earthbender wasted no time in summoning manacles of stone to bind Quinze completely, wrapping him up in long chains of rock and dirt until he couldn't even crawl like a worm. Quinze yelped incoherently.

"We thought you could use a little more help," Trowa smiled.

"This is bigger than any of us," Wufei added.

"Never alone," Quatre said, and though his face was still pale and drawn, his eyes sparkled. "Until the end, we face this together."

"It's too late!" shouted Quinze from the ground. "It's too late!"

"No way," Duo shook his head. He grinned at Heero who returned the smile.

"There's _nothing_ five Gundams cannot do." He looked to the other four and nodded once, turning back to the city. "Mission accepted."

-==OOO==-

Sally was just directing Triton down to one of the buildings when he balked and went back into the air.

"What is it?" Noin demanded.

"I don't know," Sally shook her head. "He just won't land."

"Trust him," Relena found herself saying. Then she leaned down from where she was crouched to try to see his eyes. "Something's wrong?"

The great beast gave a distinctly affirmative huff.

"Treize. And Zechs. The two generals from the armies. Can you find them?" Une asked quickly. Triton huffed again and began to fly back away from the city. "Whatever it is, we're going to need their help," she explained.

"I should say so!" Noin pointed. "Look!"

The whole central peninsula of Republic City had begun to _sink_.

-==OOO==-

The five Gundams raced along the main road, the earth shaking beneath their feet in spite of Heero's boulder that carried them. Heero and Quatre both stared unerringly in the same direction, one reading the earth and the other the hearts of those acting upon it. But as they drew closer, Duo began to feel something in the water and Trowa in the wind and they understood then the size of the problem.

They were fighting through a crowd of people who were fleeing in terror when a blast of fire appeared to one side. Only Wufei's quick reflexes and his sudden burst of flame caught the fire and redirected it before it washed over the fleeing citizens like a deadly storm. The people in the streets recognized the danger and diverted like a flock of birds down a different side-street, many of them screaming. Heero moved to block the place from which the fire had come.

"Let me through!" bellowed an angry voice. "Get out of my way, you peasants!"

"Sounds like a fun guy," Duo quipped.

Between two large stone buildings, a single man was running towards the road, his face contorted in rage. "Clear the way or die!"

He reached out and an absolute inferno erupted from his hands, concentrated many times over by the confined area. Trowa didn't even consider. He raised a tornado of his own and cast it at the man. The wind was so strong Heero had to drop the boulder to the ground and sink their feet into it to keep them from being thrown.

The super-heated conflagration blew backwards in a massive fireball that incinerated _everything_ in its path.

"Trowa," Heero said calmly as he abandoned the boulder entirely and started instead to run, "I think you just killed the Fire Lord."

"Oh." Trowa didn't fail to follow, but his face creased in a deep emotion while he ran. The other four could practically feel his thoughts as they cycled through the teachings of the Air Nomads, which he rejected without hesitation, the consequences of such an act, which he promptly ignored, and even a trace of the historical symbolism given the history of Avatars Roku and Aang with Fire Lords. All this resolved itself before he had taken more than three strides.

He glanced at the other four and his face almost quirked a smile. "Whoops."

"Whoops?" Wufei stuttered in rage, actually missing a step and having to be yanked sideways by Duo to keep from overbalancing. " _Whoops_?!"

"No use crying over burned maniacs," Duo shrugged.

"I hope to all the universe that I am the brains of the Avatar," Wufei muttered darkly. "I am not convinced any one of you menaces has any sense!"

Somehow even as they careened at full speed around the bend, Quatre found the time to lean to Wufei and explain quickly, "We were an earthbender as Avatar Yuy. Airbending is the total opposite from earthbending, even more than firebending and waterbending. Trowa's probably inherited a little much of the earthbending attitude, and that makes him unbalanced for an airbender. He's always rejecting his nature, either way, and I think it makes his perspective a little…unusual."

"Are you saying he's _not_ the common sense of the Avatar then?" Wufei shot back.

"Pretty much."

"I'm glad to hear it!"

"You're not really mad, are you?" Trowa whispered just for Wufei.

The firebender scowled. "Yes. But not at you. Now focus. We've got work to do."

The five came to a halt at the western edge of the peninsula. They could see a concentrated group of earthbenders at the water's edge, moving in unison. And with each motion, the peninsula began to crack even more.

"There are tunnels and weaknesses all through the ground here," Heero reported, closing his eyes to feel more closely the nuances of the earth. "The land was always a little unstable, and it has been worn away by water naturally over the years. Now the ocean has run into huge cavernous gaps in the earth and is eating away at what stone remains. It won't take much for them to cut the few remaining pillars that are effectively holding up the whole peninsula."

"Can we go Avatar again?" Duo wanted to know.

"No," Quatre shook his head. "It's too soon. It could kill us before we ever gained enough power to make any difference. We need to give ourselves time to recover."

"Then what are we going to do?" That was Trowa, and his voice was calm and even.

"Wufei," Quatre said, "stop those benders. Whatever it takes."

He nodded and ran off, drawing his sword with a sharp yell as he did so.

"Trowa," Quatre turned to him, "get help. We'll need every bender we can get – the Maganacs, the Earth Kingdom, Republic City, everybody. The Water Tribes might be able to slow the sea's damage, and they'll also be able to bring more earthbenders over here quickly. You're the only one who can move fast enough to get everyone here in time."

"I understand." Trowa leaped into the air and began to bound from building to building.

"What about you?" Duo asked. "Since obviously we're gonna try to stop this."

"I'm going to help you," Quatre said. "You'll need to bend more than you ever have before, even more than Heero bending the mountain pass the last time we were here. I'll feed you the strength to keep you alive."

"But I thought we couldn't be the Avatar so soon?" Duo asked even as he and Heero settled into their stances, Quatre between them.

"We're not. We might need time to recover, but this is something we can do. Together, even without rising to the Avatar State, we are powerful enough for this. Even me. Now let's go!"

-==OOO==-

It didn't take them long to spot the two generals walking through what remained of the battlefield, issuing orders and sending men and women running in all directions. The Earth Kingdom had rapidly converted some of its war machines to temporary prisons, and those members of the Black Lotus and the Fire Nation who had surrendered were being handled with deft detachment.

"General Treize!" Lady Une called as the sky bison swooped low. If the composed prince was surprised to see the creature, he did not show it.

"Lady Une," he greeted her politely. "I am pleased to see that you are well."

"Zechs!" Noin turned to the other side.

"I am Millardo," he replied, grinning brightly at both Noin and Relena perched beside her.

"We have a problem," Noin's sharpness of tone drew the smile away at once.

"They're sinking Republic City!" Relena cried.

"The Black Lotus," Treize scowled darkly. "Those cowardly, dishonorable..."

"Insult them later!" Sally snapped. "Right now we need every earthbender who can walk to get to the city before it's too late!"

"Go," Treize looked at the Lightning Count. "I'll get your men moving. Relena Peacecraft," he tipped his head upwards, "give me command of the Republic City guard. I'll get them organized to help as well."

"Done," Relena nodded sharply.

"I'll assist you, general," Une slid from the bison's back even as Millardo leaped up.

"We're going to have a long talk later," Treize looked up at Relena and Noin and Millardo and also at Sally who seemed all too composed for the situation, "but only if there is a city in which to hold it!"

"Count on it!" Noin shouted back as Sally urged the sky bison upwards.

Millardo spared a single glance from his focus on the ridge and the city beyond it to stretch out an arm and pull Relena against him in a crushing hug.

"I'm so proud of you, little sister," he said softly.

"I hope father would have been proud."

"Relena," Noin joined the hug and leaned a head on Milliardo's arm, "you have achieved everything your father and his father before him ever wanted. 'Proud' doesn't cover it."

"She's right," Sally said from in front of them. She looked over her shoulder at them and said, "Nice to meet you, Millardo. Did I ever tell you that you look a lot like a stubborn general I once knew?"

Noin barked a laugh and Millardo looked dourly at her. "And just where did you get a sky bison, Sally? Unless you're keeping secrets too?"

"He belongs to Trowa, one of the Gundams. Triton's been helping us out today," she gave him a fond pat. Triton rumbled.

"There!" Relena pointed. At one edge of the city, a bright flame burned in the sky like a beacon.

"Relena," Millardo said as Triton began to descend, "you have to get out of here. The rest of us will try to save the city, but you have to get away."

Relena considered arguing, and she tightened her fingers around where she held her brother's tunic and leaned in more closely. But she instead met his eyes and nodded.

"Triton, you take care of her, you hear me?" Sally said, and Triton roared in agreement.

"Who is that?" Noin was looking behind them at where it appeared a small army had cleared the ridge and was making excellent time in their wake. They wore not the colors of either nation or the Republic City guards, but rather browns and tans in the style of the desert-dwellers.

"More earthbenders, I hope," Sally looked at the long peninsula before her, now shaking visibly. "We're going to need them."

-==OOO==-

"I see them!" Quatre called. Wufei was perched on a pier a little off the shore, giving him a much broader view of the area than those on the beach itself. "Signal the Maganacs to spread out around the perimeter. It looks like Zechs and Noin are coming straight for us."

Wufei nodded that he'd heard and immediately set to writing in the sky with long streams of flame. It was difficult work, to write characters in the sky, more advanced even than creating lightning, but it was the best help he could contribute now that the Black Lotus members in the area had been defeated.

Triton dipped low and three figures dropped, landing a few paces from where Quatre watched the sky and listened to his heart and the others. Wufei knew Zechs and Noin by sight, of course, though he had never seen the Lightning Count without his mask, but the third woman he recognized from the ship to North Point. Sally, she'd said her name was.

"You're Quatre," Sally said. "Duo described you pretty well."

"And you must be Sally. He told me about you, too. And of course, General Zechs and Lieutenant Noin. Thank you for coming."

"The army are on their way," Millardo nodded, "but they won't be here in time from how this looks."

"Trowa will help them," Quatre said. "But you may be right." He looked sharply at the two earthbenders as he gestured to his side. "You already know Heero, I think."

"Yes." Millardo's face was utterly implacable.

"Can you work with him?"

"Yes," Noin stepped up. "For this, we need him."

"Then follow his lead," Quatre said. "I'm just coordinating the forces. Sally, you'll know what to do better than me. Maybe you can help guide the waterbenders as they arrive."

Heero was ignoring them. He had of course heard the story of the ancient library hidden out in the desert that Avatar Aang and his friends had found, and how Master Toph had been forced to try to hold it up against the power of a very old spirit. He briefly wondered if this was how it had felt to her, as if all the mountains of the world had piled on his shoulders and dared him to stand.

But he refused to give up.

Heero's earth sense could keenly feel the deep passages and caverns opened up below the city, so far down many of them had already been filled with seawater. So far down no earthbender would have ever known about them unless they thought to sink their senses deeper than the wells of the city. But that depth was what made it so difficult – Heero could feel a maze of tunnels and weakened cores of support and water sloshing everywhere, but it was so _big_ and so _far away_.

He shifted a pace, drawing up stone from even deeper in the earth, but he couldn't just patch the holes here and leave more even farther down – that would only make everything worse. Instead, he was drawing earth from out in the bay, deep under the sea, to fill in what he took. He could feel Duo moving with him, clearing the water away when it hampered him, freezing it when it threatened to rush into the gaps he created, and controlling the tides that rocked with his changes to the sea floor.

But with every passing heartbeat, as his chest ached painfully at the toll on his bending, Heero knew more and more that he could not succeed. It was just too much.

And then another presence stepped up beside him and began to copy him, and another after that, and another waterbender began supporting them as Duo was Heero. The side of the peninsula slowed its shaking, rose up a little more steadily. Heero started to walk, not even opening his eyes. Sight would not help him. He knew where buildings were, where people were, and where the gaps were. He knew it with his feet and his hands and his soul. He moved inland, repairing with every step. The new benders came with him, as did Duo, and somehow Heero knew without opening his eyes that Quatre and Wufei were not far away.

"It's impossible!" shouted a voice to his left. "We're only stabilizing a few parts at a time. The whole peninsula will be swamped under before we even cover a fourth of it!"

"You have to keep trying!" that was Quatre, and his voice was fierce. "There's still hope!" He moved to Heero's side and put a hand on his shoulder, a rush of strength flowing into the earthbender.

"I'm not leaving until we get this thing fixed!" Duo sounded angry. "Good thing I can swim!"

"You won't need it," Heero found himself saying even as he took another step and drew up solid rock deep beneath his feet. " _We will not fail_."

-==OOO==-

Relena didn't really know how to steer Triton, but she didn't need to. The sky bison had settled into a pattern looking over the city, and her heart was in her throat as buildings collapsed into sinkholes and people screamed and ran. She felt so helpless.

But then an amazing thing began to happen.

From over the ridge, a group of men blazed, carried by wind, or maybe sand – it was hard to tell. A burst of flame from Wufei on the ground seemed to tell them where to go and they spread out along one long beach and set to earthbending in synchronized rhythm.

And from the nearer pass, there was a massive commotion and it seemed like half the army from the Earth Kingdom was suddenly just _there_ , though how they'd moved so fast she couldn't imagine. And a figure Relena couldn't make out but who seemed to be moving in the wind like a bird met them and directed them to the center road that had cracked fully in half before vanishing into the city ahead of them.

And from the bay, waterbenders were following a young woman with short-cropped hair by the dozens as they began freezing the very ocean and exposing yet more earth for the waiting benders while they abandoned their ships and converged on the land like a welcome wave. Other waterbenders went straight into the city, lifting people clear of falling debris or pulling them from sinkholes and carrying them to safety.

And then in the wake of the Earth Kingdom army, there were the Fire Nation troops, running and in some cases being launched by their own war machines and catching themselves on jets of flame. They poured into the city, staying out of the way of the earthbenders but going straight for the fleeing and panicked civilians in danger.

Alone in the sky, Relena put her head down on Triton's soft fur and cried.

Because there, _there_ was what she had wanted all along. The people of Republic City were working with the Fire Nation, with the Earth Kingdom, with the Water Tribes, with total strangers and former enemies and new friends. Benders and soldiers of every nation were fighting together against a battle much greater than themselves. Waterbenders healed and protected and firebenders cleared debris and led the way along safe paths and shielded the earthbenders when they were so caught up in their work the failed to notice their own peril.

What was it the Gundams – the Avatar – had said?

" _The Avatar is a choice made by humanity thousands of years ago to live interconnected rather than apart_."

"They've made the choice again," she said, and she held her cold hands against her wet cheeks and watched, awed and humbled and overjoyed.

But a sudden ominous rumbling drew her attention and she looked up with dread. The largest of the city's tall buildings had a crack running up its side, and it began to sway. If it fell, there were so many streets still filled with people in its shadow. People who were screaming and could never move fast enough.

And then there was a flash of unruly brown hair and a _crack_ so loud it was like a lightning strike. A pillar the size of the building itself, a dozen stories tall, raced up its side, merging into the walls of the building and holding it up.

Without any urging, Triton ducked close so she could see.

Heero was swaying on his feet, his shoulders being supported by someone with sunlight hair, and ranged around him were three others, all seeming to hold one another up.

Heero's head came up and he gave a loud, harsh cry. " _I will survive_!"

And Republic City stopped shaking altogether and settled into stillness.


	30. A Story of Sacred Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "It may be that someday the war returns to this world," Wufei's voice was a bit rough, but he spoke proudly. "And if it does, we will repair it again. But not as agents of death, not as agents of terror. As Gundams. As the Avatar."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Solstice to all. I hope the brightest day's light shines on you wherever you are.
> 
> All the rest of my notes will be at the bottom.
> 
> Enjoy!

After Republic City had been stabilized by a momentous last effort by Heero, the Gundams slept for a week.

This wasn't much hyperbole on the part of their friends and allies who steered the nosy and curious away; it was almost literally the truth. From the moment of that last burst of earthbending that had saved the city, all five Gundams had been drained and exhausted beyond belief. It was perhaps fitting that General Zechs, now known as Millardo, was the one to transport the five barely-conscious Avatars from the heart of Republic City to the small improvised place they had built for themselves on the cliff above. The Maganacs had followed, establishing a perimeter around them and refusing all entry. They admitted Sally only after Sada vouched for her, and Sally only stayed long enough to confirm that the five young men were unhurt, just wearied and utterly depleted. She'd advised a steady stream of food and no interruptions.

Only the earth-sensitive Maganacs ever knew when one of the five Gundams rose from their sleeping pallets, and for five of those seven days they only woke enough to eat before collapsing back to sleep again. But in the last two days of that first week, they seemed more recovered. Earthbenders read in their earth sense that the five were moving about their little house, and even bending a very little bit, but they did not emerge and they did not acknowledge anyone besides themselves. Rashid took Sada's advice and let no one else near enough to sense that the Avatars were awake and the Maganacs kept it to themselves.

Of course the Gundams knew they were being hidden and shielded from the outside world – how could they not? – and they were grateful for it. Heero and Duo and Trowa and Quatre and Wufei had much to recover and relearn beyond the tiredness of the body from the fighting. When the intensity of the battle had worn off, they had all been struck by debilitating weakness – the price paid for merging themselves in the Avatar State. None knew quite how they had avoided it in the immediate aftermath, but they were grateful for that part too. If all five had been that tired in that moment, they would never have been able to save Republic City. Now they needed to give themselves the time and space to let their strength return.

All this they communicated without words. For that week, the five of them spoke very rarely if at all. At first they had been too exhausted to even imagine forming words, but as the days passed they realized they did not need to speak their thoughts for them to be shared. As they had discovered, the echoes of one another lived always in the backs of their minds and hearts now and their sharp edges were blurring into one another. So they wordlessly spent their time learning and honing that skill, linking them further to the single whole made from five spirits. They did not intend to meld into each other so far that they began to resemble a collective, but they wanted to understand and control that ability so, like a door, they could open it and close it at will. They were wise enough to know that they needed to preserve their identities and uniqueness, but also to have the ability to become one.

When they finally emerged on the bright morning a week from the battle, it was to a much changed world.

-==OOO==-

The city was still torn up, so it was out on the plains that had been a battlefield that Relena made her address.

"I wish to make an announcement to the entire world. As of this day, I, Relena Peacecraft of Republic City and the United Republic of Nations, hereby declare that our wars are over. We will fight no more. Only true pacifism can restore the peace and balance the world has lost. I think of this as the first step on a very positive road, and upon this road we can all walk together. We can eliminate wars and create peace. At this time I ask that you all discard your weapons and stop fighting hereafter. I'm sure we are all hoping for the same future. So together let us all work toward these objectives."

Arrayed across the plains, some in hastily-earthbended seats and tiered rows, some standing or sitting, the people shouted.

"On this very ground, the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation found peace with one another. On this very ground, we spoke with one voice to declare a future of love and kindness. On this very ground, we stepped forward as one people in many nations together."

She paused and glanced backwards. The representatives and Council-members were standing to either side of her, but a pace behind stood those whose eyes she was meeting – Noin, Millardo, Une, Sally, and most importantly, the five Gundams. Heero caught her eye and nodded once.

"And we do not step forward alone," Relena looked back over the crowd. "We step forward with the help and guidance of the Avatar."

The roar was _deafening_ , as though the land itself were joining in the shouting.

"I will be speaking with the leaders of the world, but I ask you, the people, to embrace the changes we will all be making together. Humanity has learned a lesson from this battle, a lesson that together we are stronger, that together we are one even if we appear to be separate. Even the Avatar is five and yet one. We must change our world to reflect this; we must become unified as one. I do not know how it will end. But it _will_ end with peace."

"Yes it will," Millardo murmured softly, enough that Relena and those nearest him could hear. "We will all defend peace together."

"Relena," Heero reached forward and touched her elbow gently. When she looked at him in surprise, he made a tiny smile. "Your ideals did turn the tide of war. I knew they would."

"Heero…" she began.

"There is no longer the threat of darkness gathering around you," he interrupted, "but as I promised you – if you call out, I will come. We may be the Avatar, but you are the voice of the future."

-==OOO==-

In a metal prison far below ground, Dorothy looked up to see seven pairs of eyes resting on her.

"To what do I owe this honor?" Dorothy asked, tipping her head and rising from where she had been sitting against the wall of her cell. Her once-fine Fire Nation silks were creased and lined with dirt, but she still wore them with regal pride.

"Do not be so arrogant. For your near-fatal attack on the Avatar, we could keep you imprisoned for life," Wufei said, scowling.

"But we wanted to talk to you first," Relena said, looking for the spark in Dorothy's eyes that had been absent since she had clawed her way out of the earth to watch the Avatar rise.

"And for that you need the five vessels of the Avatar, the Peacecraft herself, and the prince of the Fire Nation?" Dorothy raised an eyebrow in almost mockery.

"Nah," Duo crossed his arms against his chest. "That only takes the two officials and Cattie." His expression flickered darkly. "The rest of us are to keep you from trying anything _flashy_ again."

"Princess Dorothy," Treize stepped forward, "Fire Lord Dermail has fallen. The mantle of Fire Lord must be passed to one of us. I have never desired the throne, but I would rather be chained to it myself than set you upon it if your heart is as dark as my father's was."

"Ah, the darkness of the human heart," Dorothy made a good show of chuckling. "And how will you measure mine, dear Uncle?"

"I will measure it."

Dorothy's head snapped around like a striking ratviper and more than one of the benders present was reacting before they realized she was doing nothing more than glaring at Quatre. She sneered. "Quatre Raberba, is it? Of all the Avatars, you are clearly the least suited to the honor."

"You will not insult…" Wufei began, but Trowa waved him silent.

"You told me you wanted to reform the human soul, that you wanted to make sure people never ever wanted to fight again." Quatre stared intently into her eyes. "The heart you showed me in our battle was a heart of kindness, not hate."

"Kindness gets in the way of survival," she dismissed him. "Sympathy only leads to defeat."

"Don't deny your kindness or your sympathy to others. It was not power that saved us all and ended the war that day. It was something else. Something I need to know if you still possess."

Dorothy turned away from the look in the blue-green eyes, trying to keep the amount to which she was unnerved out of her voice. "Well, I don't."

"Quatre?" Heero asked.

"She is on fire with pain," the empath said softly, rubbing at the center of his chest against the ache. "Her heart has a great capacity for love and hope, but it will take time to ease the wounds in it first." His voice gentled and he spoke to her directly. "I didn't realize how much you loved your grandfather, Dorothy. I'm sorry for your loss."

"Don't be," she tossed her head, curling her lip at him with disdain. "Death is a gift given at birth. I don't need your pity. He died a death in the war he wanted. We should all be so lucky."

"Not anymore," Relena shook her head. "The wars are over. There will only be peace now."

"I'd rather die in a battle than live in this rotten prison," Dorothy turned her glare on Relena. "At least then my death could prove something to the people fighting."

"Come with me," Treize said suddenly. "Come with me and prove to our people that the path of my father, your grandfather, ended in death. Prove that there is another path for us. The Fire Nation is broken, Dorothy. Your strength might yet repair it."

"No," Dorothy looked away. "I won't."

"She's not ready," Quatre said as understanding broke over him. "She needs time, maybe a lot of time, to find a new way to live with herself in a world without war. She needs to find a way of allowing herself to be gentle because she doesn't know how to be strong anymore. If you give her that time, she might be ready. Just not yet."

"Then," Treize raised his head and squared his shoulders, "as Prince of the Fire Nation and acting Fire Lord, I hereby pass sentence on Dorothy, Princess of the Fire Nation."

Dorothy met his eyes without flinching, and she sank to her knees within the cell.

"Your punishment for your role in the crimes committed against the world shall be to aid in its repair. Until you are absolved of your sins, you will be beholden to myself, Lady Une, or Relena Peacecraft. You will toil at our side until your work and sweat washes your hands clean."

Dorothy's face was openly surprised. She managed to stammer the proper response: "I accept my punishment with honor."

"You expected to die," Quatre said. He reached a hand through the bars, ignoring the tension in the other four Gundams at the risk, touching her knee gently. "But you shouldn't. You should live, Dorothy. The world will need your strength and courage and kindness when you find it in yourself."

"There will always be conflict between the need to die and the will to live," Heero said softly. "It is knowing which is stronger in yourself that gives you the power to choose life."

The five Gundams made their way out of the prison while Relena and Treize spoke privately to Dorothy to arrange for her punishment, or pardon, depending on the interpretation. They were halfway up the stairs when Wufei suddenly let out a barking laugh.

"Sorry," he tried to control his smile and failed, "but I just realized. We should hurry."

"Why?" Trowa asked.

"So we can be sure to see the look on Noin's face when she finds out Dorothy will be staying with Relena again."

-==OOO==-

The next month was beyond hectic for everyone connected to the battle for Republic City. Whenever the Gundams were free of official Avatar work locating the last survivors of the Black Lotus and arresting them, they were busy restoring the earth underneath the city, strengthening what had already been fixed and repairing the last gaps and cracks. They also turned their attention to the site of the battlefield, particularly the torn-up part from where Heero and Zechs had fought, and repaired the land. And that was to say nothing of the turmoil in the spirit world that needed to be soothed from the mistreatment of it.

Relena barely had time to breathe, let alone sleep or eat, and she relied heavily upon Noin to steer her to meetings and discussions. Noin found herself pulling double-duty, however, because she was also looking after Millardo, whose identity was now becoming widely known. Earth King Noventa had actually left Ba Sing Se to oversee the peace accords for his own lands, and he made a public show of appointing Millardo to the post of Chancellor and Secretariat; Noin was named General. Of course, it caused grumbling among the nobles of the Earth Kingdom court, not only having a woman for a General but having the son of Marticus Peacecraft and brother to Relena Peacecraft in such a position of power. The Earth King didn't even bother to answer them. He simply let Noin, then Millardo, _and_ _then_ Relena lecture them all, hiding his smile behind his wide sleeves. By the time Relena had finished, the nobles were practically _pleading_ to be forgiven.

Agreements were signed in batches and flurries. Without the Order of the Black Lotus biting at the heels of those in positions of leadership, Treize from the Fire Nation, Noventa from the Earth Kingdom, Relena from the United Republic, and Sally speaking for the Water Tribes were able to craft measured and reasonable treaties between nations, and they recognized both the United Republic and Omashu as equals to the Old Four. They did, however, negotiate to hold off on founding any more new sovereign states until things had settled further.

Because Quatre had been revealed as the Avatar, or a part of it anyway, he recused himself from consideration for the ruling position in Omashu, explaining that he would be too often needed elsewhere. Sada recused himself as well, and after a fair amount of negotiation, the young Sylvia was again restored, this time not as regent but as representative. Iria and a few of Quatre's other sisters were also selected to help set up a council that could guide Sylvia according to the needs of the city's people. Quatre retained his position as heir to the Raberba fortune, however, in spite of an attempt to give it over to his sisters as well.

"After all," Duo argued when Quatre was finally recognizing the debate as a lost cause, "this way we can do our Avatar stuff with our own money and not need to take side jobs!"

Not that anyone had ever heard of the Avatar needing a job to support himself or herself, but fact and logic had never stopped Duo's enthusiasm before, and Quatre gave up.

Quatre wasn't the only one confronted with a few explanations to make, though. One day Triton took off and did not return until dusk, bearing Catherine on his back. So she had to be told the whole story, during which she stared at Trowa with wide, unreadable eyes. When all the telling was done, she looked at Trowa with a slightly trembling smile.

"Are you finally happy, then? Have you finally found your home?"

"Yes," he answered her, and he smiled for real. "Yes I am happy. Because my home is here." And he smiled at the other four.

"Good!" And she'd lunged across the piles of pillows that made up the Gundam's parlor (though it was really more just the main room of their tiny house, in which they slept as often as not because there was enough space for all five of them across the floor) and thrown her arms around him. Trowa froze for a moment in the embrace before returning it warmly.

"Triton's yours, you know," Cathy said after a long moment. "He's always been yours. He and Barton barely knew each other when Barton died. You should keep him with you now. You'll need him with everything you'll be doing, and he'll make getting around the world a lot easier on all of you."

"You're not going to ask me to come back to the circus?" Trowa was surprised, and a little hurt. And then he smiled – an Air Nomad wasn't supposed to want to claim a place or people as home; he was supposed to be free of such "worldly" concerns. He was happy he wasn't going to pursue that path, not that he ever had to begin with.

"No, I'm not," Catherine shook her head, her brown curls bouncing. "Not because I don't want you there. But because you're needed here. I only want you to come to the circus when you need a vacation. Everybody needs somewhere they can hide out from the world."

That earned smiles from all five of the Gundams. What Cathy couldn't have known was that hers was not the first of such friendly overtures. Hilde and Sally had made the same offer for their home on Ice Haven, though in Hilde's case it had been issued a lot more forcefully and with more tugging-of-Duo's-hair. Howard, too, had spent long afternoons talking with the Gundams and gave them a pass that would grant them entry to the Mechanists' stronghold as well. And, of course, there was the camp of the Maganacs and the ancestral Raberba home in Omashu.

And the Gundams already knew they would take up each offer sometimes, but their true retreat would always be Gundam Island.

-==OOO==-

It was a late morning when the Gundams had a rare break from all their other responsibilities and meetings and duties and were simply sitting together when an impatient chirp at the window drew their attention.

"Hey guys!" Duo greeted the six hawks that came in the window in a rush. Only Shenlong had been polite enough to ask permission. All six hawks had been busy too, communicating with far-flung allies, new associates, and everybody else. Epyon and Tallgeese had been part of the controlled chaos as well, and the eight hawks had formed rather an intimidating flock anytime they all descended at once upon their chosen people.

As the hawks settled on each waiting shoulder, Kai making a nest for herself in Quatre's lap, Heero tipped his head curiously.

"Our spirit guides," he said without preamble. "The birds are our guides. Just as Avatar Roku had a dragon and Avatar Aang had a sky bison. We have these hawks."

"Obviously," Wufei sniffed with a slightly haughty air. "Did you just figure that out?"

"But…" Duo frowned, "I thought Avatars get their spirit animals way earlier, like when they're kids, you know? I didn't have 'Scythey here until a couple of years ago."

"We're different from every other Avatar in every other way," Trowa pointed out. "Why should we get a spirit animal guide at the same time?"

"Besides," Quatre looked up from where Sandrock was trying to tip off his shoulder to bed down in Kai's nest, "they came to us at the right time in the end."

"They did?" Heero examined Wing closely as if seeing him for the first time.

"Yes. Two years ago, when we became masks, when we began our missions, that was the first time in our lives that the five of us were falling into rhythm with one another. We didn't know it, but we were beginning to resonate with each other. The hawks came to us then through the Order, but they came because we were ready for them."

"Quatre?"

"Yes?" The yellow-haired empath looked up at Wufei's shrewd expression.

"Did _you_ send them to us?"

Quatre actually blushed.

"It was when you became a Grand Lotus," Trowa accused fondly. "You told us that was two years ago, too. When the plans for Operation Meteor began to fall into place."

"I wasn't behind Operation Meteor," Quatre shook his head. "That was the Five."

"But you sent the messenger hawks to each of us," Heero was smiling a little too. "Why?"

"Because," Quatre's eyes were bright and sad and happy all at once. "Because I already knew there was a promise I was going to make to all of you, and if I couldn't be there yet to fulfill it, at least I could send you something to keep you company for a while."

-==OOO==-

On the night that was a month since the battle, Republic City hosted a memorial for all those who had died in the conflict. The memorial was echoed in every city across the world, but by far the largest celebration was over the city that had been the focus of the final confrontation. People came from all over to stand at the water's edge in the bay. As the sun dipped below the horizon, candles were lit and floated out into the waves, a candle for each person lost, for each dream destroyed, for each heart hurt. Relena led the memorial and the people wept together.

On the far side of the bay, almost out of the City entirely, the Gundams stayed away from the rest. Treize, Millardo, Une, Noin, and Dorothy had opted to join them rather than stand with the others. Sally and Hilde were watching over Relena, with the Maganacs nearby. Howard had already begun the process of moving his Mechanists back north, though they spared some time to watch the proceedings silently from one of the low hills.

As the lights began to slide out into the waves, a few waterbenders helping them along, the sea reflected the darkening, star-spotted sky. There was a low sound that slowly grew – the people were singing.

"It's beautiful," Noin said softly, "but so…"

"Fragile," Treize finished for her.

"One good gust of wind and all those flames will go out," Dorothy said. She had been much more subdued since receiving her pardon and punishment, still bewildered by the world she found forming around her, but she continued to find ways of disdaining the peace. Noin glared at her, but without the heat of before – she was learning to deal with the opinionated princess, even if she still mostly wanted to bounce rocks off her head until she understood or at least kept quiet.

"Then we will light them again," Wufei looked over at the Fire Nation princess. "While firebending is best _known_ for its use in battle, its best _use_ is and always has been lighting the way and warming those who are cold."

"You are not the angry young man I met and dueled the first time," Treize commented lightly, looking sideways at the firebending Gundam.

Wufei shrugged. "I was pursuing revenge and justice then. Now I have a new fight to pursue, one fought not with swords and flame, but something else." He glanced to the other Gundams.

"And you have changed too," Millardo said to Heero. "When I met you, you were prepared to die."

"You're wrong," Heero denied. "I was not prepared to die. I _wanted_ to die with all my heart."

"But why?" Noin asked.

"Because that's all that was _in_ our hearts," Duo answered quietly. "Cattie said we were all born with some kind of hole in our spirits because we were separated, and it sure felt that way. That hole got bigger and bigger and the more we fought and struggled to survive and find our way, the more death filled us up."

"We had nothing to live for," Trowa said, "and no reason to live, and yet we could not die."

"We were born dead, all of us," Wufei picked up their words, "and we would have been dead together except that we found one another."

"You said that death is a gift given at birth," Quatre tipped his head to Dorothy. "For us, it was more true than you could know. We were born knowing death better than we knew what it meant to live. It scarred all of us, and if things had gone differently, it could have destroyed us."

"Why didn't it?" Une wanted to know.

"Because the Avatar is hope, not death," Heero looked over the water and the flickering candles, "and even if we didn't know it, we were always the Avatar too."

"'History is an endless waltz, an unending dance of peace, rebellion, and war. What three can destroy, five can repair,'" Trowa recited – it was one of the last codes any of them had received from the Order of the White Lotus before they had become Gundams instead.

"It may be that someday the war returns to this world," Wufei's voice was a bit rough, but he spoke proudly. "And if it does, we will repair it again. But not as agents of death, not as agents of terror. As Gundams. As the Avatar."

The five of them stepped to the water's edge and each held out something they had brought with them.

"Your masks?" Millardo asked.

"We don't need them now," Quatre explained. "We don't need to hide who we are anymore. And we don't have to be defined by what filled our hearts when we accepted them in the first place. It's time to let them go."

Heero's fingers tightened on his mask so that he warped the metal, and then he dropped it into the water.

"Soldier is dead and I am alive. I will never kill again."

Duo ran a hand over the fearsome unagi face before ducking his head and flinging it away, and when he spoke there were tears of relief on his face and in his words.

"Shinigami is dead and I am alive. I will never bloodbend again."

Trowa let the mask go smoothly and completely, as if he were releasing a pent-up breath.

"No-Name is dead and I am alive. I will never take orders from any but myself again."

Quatre bowed his head and touched his forehead to the forehead of his own mask. He knelt and let it slide gently from his fingers into the water without a splash except for the tear that rolled after it.

"Spirit is dead and I am alive. I will never be alone again."

Wufei stared the longest at his mask before he dropped his arm bonelessly and let it fall, its weight suddenly more than he wished to bear.

"Nataku is dead and I am alive. I will never follow the path of vengeance again."

And so it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next weekend I'll put up the epilogue to this story. But the epilogue itself is true end of the story, and there's a lot that could happen between now and then. I just can't end Tears of Revelry without the end. After the weekend of the 4th of July when I'm away, I'll start putting up the oneshots I've already completed and work on the remaining requests.
> 
> I will say my beta reader has sided with a few of you reviewers that there should be a full-length sequel. I've got approximately a fourth of an idea, so if you have a brilliant inspiration for another tale, let me know! I've got a few stories I've committed to finishing this year, but by next spring I should be ready to get back into this universe if there is enough of a story to draw me. If I can't come up with something worthy, I'll take my little idea and make another oneshot.
> 
> Be on the lookout for new stories to join the series I have called "Tales from Gundam Island" to continue to build into this universe. You never know when I'll have an idea and come back to tell just one more tale.


	31. Death Has Slipped Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's do the final housekeeping first before we get into the epilogue.
> 
> First and foremost, thank you everyone who stayed with me this long. I hope the ride has been fun. It's been a blast for me, at least, and mostly because you all keep me going.
> 
> Secondly, remember that there will be no post next week, but after that I'll begin putting up oneshots for the Tales from Gundam Island series that takes place in this universe. The three readers who one the right to claim a oneshot from me were Raenyx, Miranda Shadowind, and saiyuri-dahlia. Miranda and saiyuri, I have both of your requests and I'll begin on them soon. Raenyx, please send me a message for whatever scene you would like. And I think it would be fair to offer one to DaughterofDante for making the AMV for me! So, DaughterofDante, if you're still reading, let me know what oneshot you would like to see! I'll tell you guys this much – I have four written as of now. They cover 1) Avatar Yuy's death and the immediate aftermath, 2) 5 scenes of 200 words each from the boys' childhoods, 3) Noin's day when she kicked Dorothy out of Republic City (that was the request from my beta), and 4) The Ember Island Players present The First Avatar. Let your imaginations go wild, you guys, and let's build this universe even deeper!
> 
> Thirdly, as I mentioned at the end of the last chapter, my beta is really pushing me to develop a full-length sequel. Right now I have only the start of an idea. So even if your name isn't listed above, send me your thoughts! Maybe I'll turn it into a oneshot. Maybe I'll find the seeds for a new adventure. I've loved your speculation, your reactions, and your loyalty to this story. If you are now finding yourself with a prompt you'd like to see made real, send it my way!
> 
> Fourthly, no update next week. But if you're in Minnesota at CONvergence, find me! PM me and I will make a point of getting to meet you!
> 
> Fifthly, note that there WILL be character death in this chapter. But I think it's okay.
> 
> All my love to you, readers. You're the best.
> 
> Enjoy! See you 'round the Gundam Island campfire!

It was time.

They'd known this day was coming for many years. There had even been a good-natured betting pool, not only amidst the five of them, but with many of their friends. The best odds had been on Quatre, but only Millardo wasn't surprised when all five of them instead put their wagers on Heero. They had known that Quatre's brush with death at the end of the war hadn't shortened his time but rather fulfilled it. Heero's mid-war earthbending stunt, on the other hand…

It was a bright and cheery afternoon. Gundam Island was as peaceful as always, except that today there was a new island to the west that had never been seen before. Even without that, though, they'd known.

"Shouldn't we, you know, say something to somebody?" Duo asked, brushing out his braid without even a hitch of nervousness. The braid had once been a warm brown, but years had turned it paler and paler until it was a dense grey with only streaks of its former color twined within its exceptional length, now dragging on the ground behind him like a lemur's tail, as Wufei often remarked.

"I already sent my messenger hawk to the Peacecraft," Wufei answered. His face had wrinkled with age, until Duo repeatedly told him he looked _exactly_ like a walnut. This was usually met with force; even advancing in years, the firebender had lost none of his reflexes and speed.

"And I sent a message to Rashid with mine," Quatre added, referring not to his own mentor, but to that man's son who had taken on the Maganacs when his father stepped down. "They all knew it would be soon." His fair hair was almost white now, his face permanently marked with the lines of smiling and laughing, and his eyes finally fit in his older face as they never had when he had been younger.

"I've got time to send mine along with Triton to Cathy, right?" Trowa asked. At Duo's nod, he rushed off, limping only slightly, with almost invisible movements as he urged the air to carry his weight. He had aged like most airbenders, losing hair and then height, but his frame was as wiry and quick as ever. No one smiled at him in amusement as he broke the Way of the Air Nomads one last time, not to kill for once, but to express his heart. Air Nomads pretended that death was the same as life, but Trowa was sending their aged sky bison friend with Heavyarms to the only family he had left as a comfort and kindness to them both.

In the bed in the next room, Heero lay dying.

Not that he would ever have admitted such a thing. He was propped up against a pile of pillows, scowling at a manuscript whose writing was _far_ too small to be reasonably read in his opinion. But he knew. They all knew. How could they not? His heart had faltered many times in the last year, and now, finally, it seemed that it would fail at last. The very stones seemed to know it. The earth felt warm and dark and welcoming as never before today. It was ready and waiting for him.

When Trowa returned from sending their last outgoing message, the five assembled, Wufei and Duo helping Heero down to the beach. Quatre was already standing at the water's edge, staring out at the island that was nearly filling their private little bay.

"I'll get us there," Trowa said gently. His arms moved with as much grace as they had fifty years prior as he bent the wind around them in a warm, comforting sphere. Duo shot him a grateful look – he could have bent the water to get them across, but that would have been a little more bouncy to the weakest of their number, and asking Heero to earthbend today hardly seemed fair.

"Take us to his paw first," Quatre said almost too softly to be heard. But they heard. They always heard each other now. Even when they closed the doors between their minds and hearts, which they did fairly often, they were connected at any distance when it mattered.

Indeed, the approaching thing was no island. The five had had a lifetime of getting used to all that being the split soul of the Avatar meant, including the stories of Quatre's childhood adventures, not to mention the writings of Avatar Aang. They knew who had taught energybending to their previous incarnation, and to Quatre as a child. They knew who would be present for the last bending of this life.

The ancient lionturtle had his paw upraised and Quatre smiled a little wetly remembering the first time he had met the broad, kind face. They bowed to him, Heero shaking off the helping arms to stand proudly on his own.

"Hello master."

"Hello Quatre," the lionturtle's voice was warm and low. "You have done well."

"Thank you," he smiled tightly, so many emotions playing across his pale face.

"Souls of the Avatar, the time has come for you to be reforged that you may resume your journey if you so wish," the giant beast intoned. "Are you prepared?"

"We are," Quatre said. "This world still needs the Avatar, maybe more than ever. We are ready for this one last mission to protect the people."

"Then together you were once, together you were born, and together you will die. And I will help you bend the energy of yourselves to ensure that the Avatar Cycle begins once again. To which element would you like to send your future self?"

"Avatar Yuy was an earthbender," Heero said with quiet pride. "The next Avatar should be a firebender."

"With our luck, it'll be Treize and Une's grand-kid, and he or she will take after _another_ cranky firebender we all know. You and Une and Treize could out-cranky the whole world if you really tried," Duo nudged Wufei, who pretended to ignore the taunt and failed to hide a small smile at its familiarity.

"Give me time to get us well away from land. This should not be done with any other energies but our own," the lionturtle said. Trowa raised his arms again and swept the five of them up to rest on the crown of the shell while the lionturtle submerged its head again. The air settled them down with feather-soft gentleness in the roughly hexagonal-shaped clearing. Through one break in the trees, they could see Gundam Island disappearing behind them.

The last two hawks, Heero's and Duo's, circled the air above them for a time. But neither bender called to them, and it was as though somehow their last guides knew their time had also come to an end. As Gundam Island slid out of sight, the pair gave a keening, sorrowful cry and wheeled off, leading the way west and disappearing into the low sunlight.

For a long time no one spoke. Now and again Duo ran his hands over Heero's chest to feel his heart, watching carefully for any sudden change. Quatre wandered off on his own for a bit, returning with some fruits that grew on this most isolated of forests which he passed out with a small smile that grew larger as the others discovered the uniqueness of their taste. When they passed near to a sea squall, Trowa bent the air around them and Wufei infused heat so they would be untroubled by its chill.

Towards dusk, the moon began to rise while the sun was still bright in the sky – a full moon. It was that rare combination where both firebenders and waterbenders were at their most powerful. The shore was far away, but so was much of Heero's strength. He could hear the earth whisper from fathoms below, however, and knew he was no farther from it than he ever had been in his life. And Trowa was, as always, at home wherever he went in the air.

"Well," Quatre said as that moment of strength came to them, "I guess it's time."

"I'm sorry," Heero said softly. "If not for me, we would have more years yet."

"Eh, it's okay," Duo shrugged, patting him on the shoulder. "I'm just as glad getting out of here before the next nation gets founded. The way Relena's talking, it won't be long before the Mechanists are recognized as a nation, and won't _that_ be fun for everybody else? Yeah, I don't really feel like sticking around for those arguments. Hopefully our next self will be better able to deal with it."

"He or she will probably be just about to learn of their identity as Avatar, assuming Relena Peacecraft stalls as much as she can, which I expect she will for that very reason," Wufei said thoughtfully. "Well, it's not the worst start, I suppose."

"I just want to tell you all how much this has meant to me. How deeply I…" Quatre trailed off, swallowing around a thickness in his throat. He chuckled. "How do you tell the other parts of your soul how much you love them? I've been trying to figure it out our whole life and I still don't know."

"It's okay, Quatre," Trowa said softly, taking his hand. "We know. We all feel it too."

"Remember. 'Never alone.' That's enough," Heero moved forward and put a hand on Quatre's other shoulder. "More than enough."

"More than we ever thought we'd have," Duo added, smiling not his comedian's grin but the real one that reached his heart. "Small price to pay for the run we've had."

"It has been an honor to share a life with you all," Wufei said, smiling as well, his face open and unguarded as it had been only for them, hidden from everyone else since he had been a child.

"It is time," came the deep voice of the lionturtle from somewhere ahead and below. "Do what you must and I shall help you when I am needed."

As one, they looked to Quatre. And he nodded at their unasked question. Yes, he knew what to do.

Quatre stepped back and held out his hands as he had each time they had summoned the Avatar Soul in their lives. They had learned it didn't matter in what configuration they held onto one another, but that Trowa and Wufei were better conductors of Quatre's energies than Duo and Heero, exhausting them less when it was over (Quatre speculated it had something to do with the inherent similarities of air and fire to lightning, and lightning to raw energy), so they took each side. Duo put himself between Wufei and Heero with a grin to both, and Trowa shook his head with a smile as he accepted Heero's hand. Duo always loved the sparkle of opposites that came when he touched Wufei. He said it tickled. Trowa and Heero agreed – Wufei never admitted to any such thing.

But the amused expression faded when he saw Quatre's face.

"We…we all have to die together. At exactly the same time," he said, and there was pain and shame in his eyes. "Unless anybody has a better idea, I think that means I have to kill us with my bending. Even knowing it's what we have to do, we were already dead for so long and I'm not sure I can bring myself to…"

"Oh, Cat, you're not killing us," Duo tried to reassure him. "You're putting us back together. The way you always do."

"We have to die as close to the Avatar State as possible," Wufei nodded, "so our deaths will reforge the Avatar Soul. It won't be you killing us. We'll all share in it. None of us will be responsible because we will all depart together."

"Quatre." Heero's voice was solid, stubborn, and sure. "The only way to live a good life is to act on your emotions. We have done that. We have had a good life. Follow your heart and lead us home."

"And even in the Spirit World," Trowa said softly, "even then, we'll be together. Never alone."

"I love you all forever," Quatre squeezed the two hands that held him with all his strength. "For the world, then, we'll do this."

And he closed his eyes and bowed his head. There was no denying the few tears that still escaped, and it wasn't only one or two weathered faces that showed them, but this was about more than their individual emotions now. For fifty years they had bent their energies together, and more than a handful of times since that first fateful adventure they had summoned the Avatar amidst them. Now it came to them almost effortlessly.

As one they rose into the air, emitting a white light that danced in their hair and across their linked hands. They did not call the elements to join them, simply let themselves feel the eternity, the cosmic energy, the harmony and wholeness of being one. Their thoughts merged, their feelings, their minds.

Five pairs of eyes opened, glowing white.

How could they ever be alone when they were together and one forever?

A great clawed paw rose up out of the sea beneath them, echoing their light with a green brilliance of its own.

For one breath, they hung there in perfect, shining, joyful stillness.

Then there was a _crack_.

And the lionturtle caught the five empty shells that fell from the sky, marveling at the courage in humankind, not once but twice, to pay the ultimate price to ensure the peace of future generations. Across the world, temples were lighting up as the statues and altars and signs of the Avatar glowed in recognition and the sages and mystics began to at once grieve and prepare. Somewhere a tiny child was pushed into life and let out a cry. The world shifted, settled, and was whole. The Avatar had returned as if it had always been.

And from beyond, five young men, standing with the pride they had carried at fifteen, joined a thousand lifetimes to take their place to guide the next Avatar forward. They were five souls, but now and always linked for eternity. Their thoughts, memories, and feelings flowed between them unencumbered, and they echoed the harmony in themselves of the Avatar's balance in the world. They were not alone – they had a thousand brothers and sisters waiting to greet them, after all – but more comfort than any other was that they were _whole_ for the first time.

The Avatar had been destroyed, but thanks to the resiliency of its heart, the need of the world to which it belonged, and the choices of its five bearers, that fragmented soul had endured and made one final sacrifice. One last miracle. One last mission for the sake of peace.

The cycle could begin again.

* * *

 

The End


End file.
